The Scent of Coziness and A Hum of Doing Too Much
November 1, 2025 | Issue #20| The Scent of Cozy
In this week's edition we’ll unpack:
The Scent of Coziness — How our sense of smell could be telling us to slow down and why nostalgia feels so different now.
Wisdom of a Wandering Scholar — Learning to let your observation wander and finding your way out of faerie.
Sticking To Your Own Story — Why it’s important to avoid getting lost in someone else’s story.
May these words find you well, as we untangle our thoughts and explore new ideas…
“There seems to be a disconnect between our clever brain and our compassionate heart.”
The Scent of Coziness and A Hum of Doing Too Much
And just like that first sip of steamy hot cider or cocoa, the kind that warms you from the inside out—you step outside, close your eyes, breathe in that crisp autumn air, and realize: the holidays are here again.
They come all wrapped in memories of seasons come to pass and comfort, like the smell of old decorations mixed with a box of crayons, the pages of a coloring book as the aroma of cooking celery and onions drifts into the living room.
Yet, hidden in that same warmth lies the subtle hints of winter, the reminder that another year is closing its doors behind us. With it comes a flood of moments, memories, and unfinished to-do lists raining down, in a steady drizzle on our subconscious.
[pulls out an umbrella]
Now that we’ve entered one of the coziest months of the year: sweater weather, hoodie season, and that tight grandma-hug of the holidays, the rhythm shifts. There’s a familiar hum of motion… shopping carts (both literal and digital), calendars filling, deadlines sneaking in like cold drafts beneath the door.
But here’s a question worth pausing on:
Do you ever think that maybe we, as humans, as a society, try too hard, have grown too large, move too fast, perform too often—and do too much?
Lately, I’ve noticed that the more I try to juggle, the less I actually move. I feel that every task demands attention, every idea fights for priority, and somewhere in the chaos, joy starts to slip quietly through the cracks.
The truth is, productivity without presence is like planting seeds and never stopping long enough to water them.
“What is real and what is not? Can you tell me or I you? Perhaps we shall never know more than this—that to think a thing is to make it true.”
― P.L. Travers, Mary Poppins
Maybe that’s why our sense of smell is one of the strongest triggers for those nostalgic memories, or why so many seem intent on recapturing the vibes of the 90’s. Not for the ‘simpler times’ that everyone swears that they were, but for the pure nostalgia of them. There are even Blockbuster scented candles, people hunting down VHS tapes and old TV’s, as if rewinding time could bring a sense of calm
It’s our brain's quiet way of saying let’s reel it in some, slow down. Why are you trying to fast-forward through life only to complain that time is going by too fast?
So why does scent seem to have this almost magical ‘stop us in our tracks’ power to send us tumbling into memory? Neuroscientists suggest it’s because of how closely smell, memory, and emotion are linked inside the brain. The same structures that help us navigate the world also help us remember how it once felt.
“Smell is a potent wizard that transports you across thousands of miles and all the years you have lived.”
These connections form most strongly during childhood, which is why a single whiff of certain smells can take us right back to those days of our youth.
As Harvard neurobiologist Sandeep Rober Datta explains in an article by Harvard Medicine,
“You can think of the original brain as being a sense of smell plus a sense of navigation plus a sense of memory… That’s why all those structures are so intimately connected, and why odor memories are so evocative.”
Our ancestors used scent to survive, to track food, find home, and stay safe. Today, that same ancient wiring helps remind us where home within ourselves is. As Datta puts it, we’re “dependent on it for a sense of well-being and centeredness in the world.”
So perhaps what we’ve been searching for has been right beneath our very noses all along. We don’t always need to wander that far to find what we’re seeking. Sometimes we only need to slow down long enough to allow our senses to guide us, and to be patient enough to really listen for what they have to say may be important.
Fun Take-A-Way: The Nose Knows…Just like it can lead us back to childhood kitchens and candlelit holidays, our intuition can lead us back to ourselves.
When life feels like it’s speeding by, take a cue from your own biology: pause, breathe, and let your senses pull you back into the present.
Sometimes, the fastest way forward… is to stop and smell the season.
Philosophy of the Week:
The Wisdom of the Wandering Scholar
In Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett, the central character spends her life searching and cataloging the unknown, documenting creatures that flicker between myth and reality. But what she discovers, often in spite of herself, isn’t just the world of faerie, it’s the art of being present within it.
Emily approaches her work with the precision of a scientist, but it’s in her stillness, her willingness to watch and listen, rather than control or act too hastily—that allows her to truly see the unseeable. The fae world doesn’t open itself to force or speed. It unfolds only to those patient enough to wait.
I’ve found that there’s a beautfiul philosophy beneath her adventure:
Magic reveals itself to those who move gently through the world.
What if that’s what we keep forgetting in our own hurried reality? Treating wonder like a resource to chase. Something to capture, covet, monetize, or prove. When, in truth, it lives in those subtle, unmeasured and often overlooked spaces.
The radiating warmth of a warm mug in cold hands. The smell of woodsmoke. The sound of conversation and laughter emanating from the other room.
So this month’s philosophy is simple:
Slow your pace. Let your observations linger.
Magic, in whatever form you believe in, prefers to be found by those who are willing to wander, get lost a little, and not rush.
Day2Day Survival Tip:
Stick To Your Own Story
‘Winds in the East, mist comin in; like somethin is brewin’ and ‘bout to begin.’
It’s far too easy to lose our footing when we start looking sideways, comparing our path to someone else’s highlight reel, or feeling like we’re somehow missing out. But the thing is, every life moves at its own rhythm. The more we try to measure our worth by another person's timeline, the further we drift from our own.
Sticking to your story means honoring your pace, your space, your process, and your own unique unfolding story. You don’t have to chase someone else’s version of success, beauty, happiness or balance. What’s meant for you will always find you, most often when you stop running and start being.
Comparison is a thief dressed as motivation.
Don’t lose sight of your own rhythm by measuring your pace against someone else’s tempo. Trust your path, twists, pauses, detours and all, that it’s exactly as it’s meant to be. Keep tending to your own little patch of life.
Words of Wisdom:
One of the most influential people of the Jazz Age, F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940), captured the restless longing of human hearts and the elusive nature of dreams in The Great Gatsby. Where he explores the tension between hope and memory, the pull of the past, and our desire to stretch toward a future that always seems just out of our reach. Fitzgerald reminds us of the beauty and the bittersweet pain in chasing our own visions:
“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning-- So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
Thanks for reading!
Until next time,
Guthrie
Ps. Take a moment today to wonder what secret paths might the faeries be leading you down?
