Misery has an odor that is not dependent on the individual’s race or gender. To smell this odor, you may first need to redeem your senses through a healing journey, but the smell is consistent amongst all humans.

the raging narcissist 

The author knows this odor to come from a raging person. A narcissist who rages all the time will emit a much stronger odor than those who occasionally rage.

As a child, I walked into a youth church building for the midweek service. Immediately upon entering, I turned around and left the building quickly, feeling overcome by something. I eventually re-entered the building to attend the service, but I could not understand why I had immediately left upon entering. Today, I know it was because I smelled the strong scent of rage at the entrance. Either a rageful event had just taken place, or a rageful person was hanging out at the entrance.

Since then, my sense of smell was compromised by the abusive narcissists who surrounded me for years.

After going through healing and recovery, my sense of smell came back with a vengeance. Today, I smell misery all the time, and if I’m in a confined space with a person, it is almost certain that the person is unhealthy and has been raging recently. I could even sometimes smell it on myself as I dealt with the anger of my past during recovery.

This is recognized by others in the music industry through the artist Twenty One Pilots in their song, “Heathens.” They say they can smell your intentions. It’s true. The healthy and recovered with healthy senses can smell your intentions.