The smell of childhood
When was the last time you cracked open a box of fresh crayons?
Maybe you piled them into a shopping cart to check off the supply list for back to school.
Perhaps you cleaned up the stumps and remnants from the kitchen table after the “marker box” was dumped out.
Did you catch a whiff of the wax? Maybe the torn, woody paper?
There is something magical sealed inside. It can transport you straight back to your childhood.
When I first started working alongside my friend Kelly, I took note of the box of crayons proudly displayed on the top shelf of her desk.
I was curious, what compels someone to keep crayons in arm’s length – and in the workplace?
Kelly was all too happy to explain, “sharing my love of crayons is one of my favorite things to do!”
“Open the box,” she said. I looked around, as one does and obliged. “Now take a deep breath in!”
Sense memory – Peeling back the paper and shaving small wax chips onto the surface of paper. I was transported to high school; I was creating a wax painting – a fall scene, if I remember correctly. The shavings built up and blended with each melting pass in the microwave.
…Or that summer slumber party with my aunt when I was 6 or 7 years old – Pizza and coke and Disney coloring books – thumbing through scenes of the Little Mermaid and Sleeping Beauty, settling on Princess Jasmine from Aladdin!
Faintly and most precious, the ways in which my mother influenced my technique – soft circular motion, building up texture and allowing color to blend until shiny, buffed. “Try to stay in the lines,” she would say softly.
In a flash, a thoughtful flood of memory – warm, familiar and comforting.
Kelly patiently indulged me, “I keep a box a box of these lovelies at my desk in the event things get a little stressful – I put my nose in the box and AHHHHHH, an all is right with the world moment.”
Crayons represent a time with less distraction – steadfast, quiet, soft, loud, bold and always ready to play.
Crack open your box and let us know where it takes you!