OK … confession time. What smelly things have you done to try to sell your home?

New research is telling us that the wrong smell in a house can cost home sellers a sale. Dr Avery Gilbert, a psychologist who studies human responses to scents, says tobacco and cat urine are the odours most difficult to cover up and warns the bad impression they leave can have buyers walking out the door.

Dr. Avery Gilbert is a smell scientist.

He has conducted research on human odor perception in academic laboratories and in the R&D divisions of multinational perfume companies. Along the way he’s taught scores of audiences about the science of smell. – Avery Gilbert

But what about good scents? Have you ever tried baking bread or biscuits just before a home open? Apparently that might make buyers feel as though the house belongs to someone else (which of course, it does) and they’re less likely to see themselves living there.

Dr Avery reckons the best option is a clean, fresh floral scent. I guess that having a couple of bunches of fresh flowers in your house would make it visually appealing too.

“If you have a highly pleasant smell, people get into a better mood as they are exposed to it. And bad smells will put people in a bad mood,” Dr Gilbert said.

“People may not be as attracted, even if it is a fine property.”

Dr Avery, whose research involved a company that manufactures air freshener, partnered with Air Wick to complete the research into home odour created an index of the 51 most common household scents, from cooking to pets and body odour.

He said finding a way to remove bad odours should be paramount when selling your home. – News.com.au

What are the little tips and tricks you’ve used for home opens? Brewed coffee? Air freshener? Fresh bread? Let me know what you’ve tried.

According to a new study the growing trend of sharing photos online is causing the death of the traditional photo album. Around two-thirds of the 3000 Britons who were surveyed now catalogue their pictures on computers, tablets or on their smartphones.

Around one in five people take photos with the intention of posting them on sites such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, it revealed.

Meanwhile the so-called “selfie” – a snap taken by the photographer holding a camera at arm’s length – has become the most popular image captured by young people.

These account for 30 per cent of the pictures shot by those aged 18-24 and, according to the study, men take more pictures of themselves than women.News.com.au

A lot of photos are only being stored on sites like Facebook these days. Many of those who were questioned share their photos online within a minute of taking them and over half share their photos online within a week.

Just a third of those questioned said they still displayed images using an old-fashioned book. More than half – 53 per cent – claimed they preferred to use Facebook and only 13 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds said they had ever used an album. – News.com.au

The vast majority of pictures are never ever printed and only exist in digital form. Do you think we’re losing something with the loss of printed photos and photo albums or does the way we share photos these days mean that we see more of our pictures?

I share quite a few photos through my instagram account. I also put photos on Facebook but most of my photos end up being stored on a hard drive at home.

Do you still haul out the old photo albums to have a look through from time to time? How do you store your photos? I’d love to hear from you. Let me know in the comments section of this post.

Back in February I flew to Victoria, Australia to take part in the 2013 Great Ocean Road Challenge. I cycled around 300 kilometres through some incredible scenery with an amazing bunch of people.

The ride raised money for ADRA, Compassion andBotswana Orphan Project.

My chosen charity was Compassion and I’m extremely grateful for everyone who donated and helped me release children from poverty.

The video above shows a glimpse of the ride and the great news is that it’s all happening again in 2014. I’ve done the ride for the last couple of years so I’m unlikely to be there in 2014 but if you’re looking for an adventure that helps others, consider being part of the ride. Registrations are opening on the 24th of June at 25000spins.

As well as popularising the phrase, “tune in, turn on, drop out”, Dr Timothy Leary was known around the world as being at the forefront of experimentation with drugs, especially LSD.

Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs such as LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison Experiment and the Marsh Chapel Experiment. Both studies produced useful data, but Leary and his associate Richard Alpert were fired from the university nonetheless because of the public controversy surrounding their research. Leary believed LSD showed therapeutic potential for use in psychiatry. – wiki

Back in those early days at Harvard there was a young professor of psychology named Charles Slack who also began experimenting with LSD and other drugs. Within a very short time he went from being a bright young academic to being a drug addicted mental hospital patient.

Dr Charles Slack has now been completely free of drugs of any kind for over 37 years but he says he still has to deal with his addiction every day.

Dr Charles Slack is well-known in Australian recovery circles. He gained a PhD in Experimental Psychology from Princeton University and became an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology at the Harvard Psychological Clinic from 1955 to 1960.

He was amongst the first to experiment with LSD and as a result became addicted. In 1976, clean and sober in 12-Step programs, he migrated to Australia to start a new life.

Charles is now the chairman of B-Attitudes, a not-for-profit group that aims to facilitate the restoration of the physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual lives of individuals and families who have been affected by substance misuse. He has turned his own experience into a way of helping others break free from addiction.

B-Attitudes is a charitable, not-for-profit organisation, founded 10 years ago by three people who have a heart for empowering individuals who want to recover from alcohol and drug addiction and work towards a drug-free lifestyle.

The founding directors are qualified Psychotherapists in Transactional Analysis, one a Certified Transactional Analyst in Psychotherapy. Two have a background in Registered Nursing and Midwifery. The Committee of Management contributes a wide field of expertise and the Chair is Dr. Charles Slack, Ph.D. who is himself a recovered addict with over 37 years ‘clean’ and sober.

Each of the three founding directors have 15 years experience in the field of alcohol and drug addiction and community-based recovery and related family care.

I recently had a fascinating chat with Charles about B-Attitudes and about his own journey to beating addiction. He even said that a current, popular television series displays the right way to fight drug addiction. Can you guess which show it might be?

You can hear our discussion by clicking the play button on the audio player below.

The most important thing is to enjoy your life—to be happy—it’s all that matters. – Audrey Hepburn

Is the main goal of life to find happiness? Knowing how transitory happiness can be, is that a satisfying goal? How do we know if we’ve achieved the right level of happiness?

Sanity and happiness are an impossible combination. – Mark Twain

Is happiness the end goal or is it the by-product of something deeper and truer? Should we spend more time seeking the happiness of others rather than our own happiness? Would that kind of selfless action actually heighten happiness not only in others but in ourselves?

Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile. – Mother Teresa

My regular Wednesday morning guest on 98five Sonshine FM is Rev Dr Ross Clifford who is the Principal of Morling College in New South Wales. Each week we chat about a range of issues relating to spirituality and belief.

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. – Romans 14:17

Today we talked about happiness and contrasted it with joy. The Bible mentions joy hundreds of time but what is it really all about? You can hear our discussion by clicking on the play button on the audio player below.