Smells in boxes

Smell. Probably one of the strongest factors in bringing back memories. There have been many instances where I've smelled a perfume I hadn't worn in a while and it reminded me specifically of junior or senior year of high school. Sometimes I wish I could box certain smells so that every time I want to remember a place or an experience, I open the box and travel down memory lane. No, but seriously.

The smells I'd want to capture are those of:
-Nature in the summer in Connecticut
-Nature in the summer in Greece (yes, they smell differently)
-Rainy soil in the summer to remind me of calm summer nights
-Watermelon to remind me of summer in my younger years and of my aunt.
-My ex-boyfriends' cologne to remind me of good memories
-A library filled with old books
-Clothes that came from a suitcase to remind me of my travels
-Sunscreen to remind me of summer
-My elementary, middle and high schools
-My house in Greece
-Morning air in Spain
-My best friends' and cousins' perfumes so that they all feel close to me even if they're far away.
-My house now

Wouldn't it be amazing if every time you opened one of those boxes you felt close to that memory, that place or that person and felt the way you did then?

Picture link: http://weheartit.com/entry/11643889

Childhood

Lately I've been trying to find the words to describe what I'm feeling. I will try my best and see how it goes. This post is about living in a specific place and our notion of belongingness. Having moved to the United States at 13, I felt like I belonged in Greece (and still do). I think there is a certain age in childhood when the world as you know it only makes sense if you are in the place you've grown up in.

Today I was at the park and I was looking at all the children playing baseball, tennis, volleyball, etc. I was trying to put myself in their shoes and see how on earth this place could feel to them like...home. And I couldn't. But when I think about my small town in Greece, my grandmother's backyard where I played for hours with my cousins, my elementary school in Greece and my neighborhood, suddenly that is the only place I could imagine growing up in. And the problem is that I think it's the best place, no matter how many more fun opportunities children have in my current town in the states. One thing that bothers me here is that lots of people move constantly. They move with their children to a different town or state, no matter what age they are, as if life in their current town was just temporary and not good enough. Now, I'm all for traveling and finding the ideal place to live in, but I don't think it's right to move your children away from what they've always known and the people they've grown up with, and to move somewhere else just because of a job opportunity. This thought now reminds me that this is exactly what my parents did when I was 13. I don't hate it here, but I believe that people should try harder to stay at the place they chose and worked hard for. I think there's something very important in being able to visit your parents once you've moved out and to be able to be back in the town you lived in as a child, around the same friends you've had since elementary school and around the same neighbors. Somehow, I think life's cycle is more crystal-clear when your present can meet your past at the same place.

Picture link: http://weheartit.com/entry/11643889

Λίγο ρομάντζο.

Κάτι που έγραψα πριν κάτι χρόνια σε ένα τετράδιό μου, που όμως δεν παύει να με εκφράζει...

Είναι στιγμές που η μορφή σου χάνεται απο τις σκέψεις μου σαν ένας ήλιος που έχει πάψει πια να φωτίζει. Το μυαλό μου αδειάζει απο τις μυριάδες περιπέτειές μας και ψάχνω απεγνωσμένα να σε βρω στις άκρες του. Είναι όμως και κάποιες στιγμές που ζωντανεύεις στη σκέψη μου και επανέρχεσαι, όπως όταν ο ήλιος ανατέλει το πρωί. Και μου χαρίζεις φως..Γιατι μπορώ ξανα να σε δω και μόνο η σκέψη σου με γεμίζει ζεστασιά. Σύντομα όμως σκοτινιάζει...Κι εγώ ξαναχάνομαι στο σκοτάδι. Μακριά απ΄το φως σου, μακριά απο ΄σένα, στην άλλη άκρη της γης.