Hello! My Name is Yazmin and I write under my pen name The Girl Who Cant Smell
I was born with anosmia, which is the medical term for the lack of sense of smell. Growing up, I was very confused. I never understood why I couldn’t react to what everyone labeled as scents or odors everyday. Living without being able to smell made me interpret the world very differently. I had to be extra careful to ensure my safety (gas leaks and fires!) and be impeccable with my personal hygiene (bad breath exists?). The invisible obstacles of scents didn’t make sense to me. At times, they were challenging. The worst part was that they also made me feel out of place and misunderstood.
I began to wonder if there were other people out there, who were also managing their lives without being able to smell. I decided to find out. So, I started a blog. Since 2015, I’ve written about my personal experience living with anosmia on my website https://www.girlwhocantsmell.com. To my surprise, I’ve found out there are a lot of people out there like me! My blog has allowed me to connect with other awesome anosmics (or “nosmies” as I like to call us). The anosmia community that has emerged has allowed me to form new friendships, expand my knowledge about our condition and most importantly, help me feel understood. I love relating to other nosmies! I’ve done so primarily by using humor and not being afraid to post about my funny, scary and embarrassing stories.
Ultimately, this expression has allowed me to find out more about myself and discover skill sets I had never tapped into before. I love creativity and art and am now using both in creating The “Girl Who Can’t Smell” in order to promote my goal of letting people know that anosmia exists and ultimately, spread necessary awareness. Thank you for reading this post.
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