My mom was ahead of her time by limiting our intake of sweets and soft drinks. That, of course, made the few times we had a sweet treat even more special. If I could choose my own, I favored Chuckles, a jelly candy. My favorite of the five flavors: black licorice. I saved that spicy, sugar-coated bit of goodness to the end and chewed it slowly. Today, I embrace chocolate, but on occasion, I fall for spearmint jelly candies in deference to my first sweet love – Chuckles.
The licorice flavor now acts as an anchor. When I taste real, pure, black licorice, I immediately flash back to those grade school years. I feel the full range of emotions that runs through a child, sometimes pulled by early peer pressure, other times overwhelmed with joy; sometimes afraid, other times adventurous. The taste of black licorice also reminds me of my mother, who loved the flavor even more than I did. As I wandered throughout my adult life, Mom always asked me to keep my eye out for real black licorice. I am not sure that I ever did; by that time I was fully converted to chocolate with almonds.
Most of us find that music anchors us to our past experiences. Certain songs, especially Layla, take me right back to the room I was in when the song played and to the people there. The smell of lilacs may remind someone of their grandmother. A musty garage with a tinge of cedar reminds me of my grandfather’s garage. Most women revert to the birthing process simply by smelling an infant.
Memories are most often attached to a sensory stimulus. That is uplifting if you pause to remember Chuckles and childhood when eating licorice, but what about taming the negative anchoring? Some stimuli trigger negative feelings; in my case, I remember my dad and his obsessive nature when I see or hear a crackling short wave radio. I feel grief for him when I walk on a beach. I cannot shake free of hating my infantile step-mother when I see a turtle (long story). Who needs the negativity? As a recent retiree, I find it is time to cherish the good and plan new adventures. It is time to allow sensory stimuli to anchor new memories and new friendships. That is not to say I will ever give up Classic Rock; rather, today’ sunsets will replace yesterday’s storms.
The Internet is full of ways to re-anchor or replace negative associations. You can start here if you need an influx of the positive.
I don’t know if they ever make their way to the US but over here we have a sweet called a Pontefract Cake if we fancy a liquorice hit. It’s small, round and flat and basically it’s just a liquorice candy. Ponterrace is a town in Yorkshire in the North of England where, historically, liquorice was grown (or is it mined?).
Interesting! I found the PCs at Amazon. We can also order them directly from England. Thanks!