What a Trip

While I was walking to work this morning, I passed by a woman in her mid 50's perhaps. She smiled at me as we passed by each other, and I caught a whiff of her perfume. She smelled like my mom. There are certain things that can whip you out of whatever trance you may be in, and smells and music are a couple of them for me. It was a comforting feeling. Although I talk to my mom several times a week, she would have it no other way, it was a nice moment to smell her. I wonder if these moments are put into your life here or there to remind you of something special that you may have forgotten, pushed out of your life, or just a sense of comfort. I would like to think that it's not just a coincidence. I would like to think that as that woman walked by me, my mom was thinking about what I may be doing, and for whatever reason, appeared just for a moment to me in the smell of her perfume.
A few weeks ago, a similar experience happened. While we were cleaning the house, we had our ITunes open and it was on a random shuffle. While I was cleaning the kitchen, I heard Tori Amos' "In the Springtime of his Voodoo". I literally had not heard this song since I was about 17 or 18 years old. I went and had to sit down in front of the computer. It was like listening to an old friend, as cheesy as that sounds. It was oddly comforting and slightly amusing. I always think it's funny thinking of the teenage me, not because it's been so terribly long, but because of the amount of change between then and now. These experiences are gratifying because they remind me of some really fun and care-free moments in my life. The most I had to worry about at 17 was who was in a fight with who, and going to a part time job. So, anyway, the moment was a nice reminder of certain experiences and people that were in my life at that time. If my same theory applies to this one, I wonder if maybe I needed to feel that carefree teenage me for a moment to relieve whatever stress in my adult life.