A Lesson in Time Travel--Mellon Style

I am a creature of habit. Well that is until the habit starts to bore me to tears. Then I find a new habit to partake in until the cycle repeats itself. Take lip balm for instance. For the past year or so, my habit has been to use the tubular chapstick kind as pictured below.

 

Birds? What birds? Ohhh those birds. Yes, well I thought I'd kill two--um birds--with one stone and show you a piece of my Halloween decor, too. What? You want to see the whole mantle? Sure. 

As Chase & Amaya would say: SPOOOOKY. 

Anyway, what was I saying? Oh yes, chapstick. Right. Well, I've been using those tubes religiously, but now I'm bored. My lips are bored. It is time for a change. So now, I'm going to be using the pots. Ya know, the pots? 

I've been down this road before. In fact, when I applied my first coat this morning, the smell of the goop instantly transported me back to my Freshman year at WVU.  I could almost feel myself falling asleep in Chem 15 or filing cart after cart of microfilm at Wise Library.  For those few moments before my nose grew accustomed to the scent, I was 18 again. Isn't it cool how a smell can do that?

Which leads me to the real point of my post. I'm going to teach you how you too can travel back in time. It's simple really.  Whenever you're about to embark on a vacation that you would like to have the opportunity to vividly revisit in the future, buy yourself a new body wash, perfume, or shampoo. It needs to be brand new to you and have a very distinct aroma preferably one you actually like. Buy a big bottle--maybe even multiple bottles. Then while you're on your trip, use it everyday. Even multiple times a day. Inhale the fragrance as you think about all of the magical moments you've had that you never want to forget. When you get home, put the remaining product away for awhile--the more time the better I believe. Then when you feel the desire to recapture that blissful feeling, pull it out and let the memories waft over you as you breathe in the aroma. You'll feel for a moment like you're back on that beautiful beach gazing out onto the turquoise water. But use this magic potion sparingly, so as not to desensitize your nose to the smell. You don't want this to become your daily routine--save it for those moments when you need a little pick me up. It's the closest thing to a time machine I've found. At least in this universe.