Pica and smells

I used to chew wood as a child. Bedsteads, window sills anything to hand. I ended up being a wattle hurdle maker, working in hazel coppice. Now I tend to seek out the smell of wood. I particularly like the smell of oak. If there is a fallen oak in the wood I’m working, I will cut into it with my chain saw so I can smell the fragrance this produces.

Olfaction is interesting neurologically. Some smells travel directly to the hypothalamus, amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex areas of the brain. These areas are known to be involved with emotions and fight or flight responses. Of all the senses olfaction is unique in having this direct connection.

It is thought that the emotionally charged nature of olfaction helps to maintain physiological equilibrium in a similar way to the homeostatic emotions of thirst and hunger. So your actively seeking certain smells can be explained in terms of anxiety management. If you google “homeostasis and allostasis” you’ll find out more about this. Autopoiesis is also interesting.

As Senior Moment suggests it would be good idea to find a way to alleviate anxiety that works for you. I used to think that binaural beats was just new agey nonsense. Recent research shows that it can help with anxiety relief. https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/think-act-be/201911/how-improve-anxiety-sleep-and-more-binaural-beats

I used to chew wood as a child. Bedsteads, window sills anything to hand. I ended up being a wattle hurdle maker, working in hazel coppice. Now I tend to seek out the smell of wood. I particularly like the smell of oak. If there is a fallen oak in the wood I’m working, I will cut into it with my chain saw so I can smell the fragrance this produces.

Olfaction is interesting neurologically. Some smells travel directly to the hypothalamus, amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex areas of the brain. These areas are known to be involved with emotions and fight or flight responses. Of all the senses olfaction is unique in having this direct connection.

It is thought that the emotionally charged nature of olfaction helps to maintain physiological equilibrium in a similar way to the homeostatic emotions of thirst and hunger. So your actively seeking certain smells can be explained in terms of anxiety management. If you google “homeostasis and allostasis” you’ll find out more about this. Autopoiesis is also interesting.

As Senior Moment suggests it would be good idea to find a way to alleviate anxiety that works for you. I used to think that binaural beats was just new agey nonsense. Recent research shows that it can help with anxiety relief. https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/think-act-be/201911/how-improve-anxiety-sleep-and-more-binaural-beats

Having already looked into relaxation tapes and the various coloured noises, it looks like I will now have to try binaural beats. :-)

I worked in forestry and saw mills for a bit; and sold softwoods and hardwoods. I love that oak smell too. Also, apple wood from old orchards! And gorse!!!

I'm interested in your hurdle-making, because I also worked in agriculture. We used to have some rattan in the garden here. I experimented in making some crude fence panels with it, partly because I remembered doing a bit of hedgelaying in the past.  I reckon I would also enjoy using bamboo as a construction material. Some conservation-minded folks here make woven bamboo panels and then render over the top to create partition walls.I beieve you can also do the same with mud walls. That also reminds me that when I lived in a half-timbered farmhouse, the owner demonstrated to me the modern technique for repairing the wattle and daub panels between the timbers, with wood cement slabs cut to fit the spaces, and then rendered over.

All very therapeutic. But it strikes me really that what would help me the most is to go back to working in a more rural environment. City life here doesn't suit me at all. Way too noisy!