Although learning how to care for myself was probably the most important choice I ever made, it wouldn’t mean much if this taking care wouldn’t be the foundation to contribute to others. Most of the time, it is the other who makes me stretch for the extra mile. 

Helping others is a very tricky subject. It isn’t obvious at all whether we actually help someone or not with a certain action, even if the intent seems clear. Much is related to the art of giving & receiving. There’s a huge difference between giving someone what they want or what they need.  

A learning path I encountered over and over was that after having helped someone, I ended up being the victim of my own actions. These are painful and difficult experiences. They made me question the whole idea of contributing to others many times over. 

This being said, giving back to life and supporting others definitely adds meaning and value to my life. The idea that we only truly give back to life by discovering and manifesting our unique expression of being, is the only idea that still stands strong, after having ventured deeply into this topic.

Everything else has so many ingredients to take into account that it rarely holds any ground after digging for a while. 

I incorporated my need to contribute in the very roots of the collection. A group of women gathered together in Ahmedabad and hand-painted every single hummingbird that comes with the collection. If I remember correctly, about 60.000 birds were colored with all-natural plant extracts. This way, these women were able to contribute to their family & spent a good time together. They contributed to infuse each bird with their joy, love & beauty.

In the process of creation, many choices have to be made. Much like in our day-to-day life really, although it took time to be fully aware of the potential of choices we all have available in a single day. A vast majority of them, we don’t even consider to be a choice. Knowing that we all carve out our own experience of reality based on choices, it is a no brainer to realize that becoming aware of them is the first key. How we make them is the second.

As I was creating at the source of all ingredients, I felt confident not taking the costs into account to make choices. That doesn’t mean I didn’t practice my negotiation skills. I remained focused on my primary aim; “ to create nature’s purest & daily serving products without any compromise. “ 

It was after the first prototypes that pricing and value became an issue to deal with. Considering everything the collection represents and all the meaning it potentially provides for, their value is beyond measure.

On the other hand, I needed to find a fair price to offer them for sales. The whole topic brought me in touch with my own value and the question;”how do I value myself, and how do I reflect this in my creations?”

The topic of value stayed with me for a long time. All my different marketing and pricing strategies just scratched the surface. Going on a tour through Europe, offering my creations in different types of stores and boutiques provided for much feedback.

How we value something is closely related to the meaning we attach to it. Obviously, value is very relative. Much of the feedback I received was difficult to digest as I was putting myself on the balance.

I finally decided to go with a fully transparent pricing structure, so I can take care of my own needs and allow distributors to take care of theirs. Needs change depending on each specific situation. Healthy dialogue and some negotiation combined with meaning goes a long way. 

“ The basic principle is that everybody involved should be honored & respected.”

Dealing with hidden agendas, together with conditioned giving and receiving through-out my life’s experiences lay at the basis of this deeply rooted need. 

As I reflected on this topic, I came in touch with my own unconscious conditioning about giving and receiving. A whole network of mechanisms lay nested in these dynamics. It touches upon expectations, hidden agendas, manipulation, power and control, allowing and taking, and many more. It also touches upon my conditioned concept of love. 

“Giving & receiving from the heart is done in the present moment, without any expectations.”

The learning and practice of giving and receiving from my heart is an ever ongoing journey. It is definitely a behavior that is served with our attention. It is a tough one, as many other behavior patterns are connected with it. 

On the other hand, it is a very good topic to awaken more consciousness as giving and receiving is a large part of our daily routines.

To incorporate this vast theme, I choose to create a beautiful gift box, hand-made out of recycled cotton & flower petals for the whole “First Leaf Collection”. I also designed a set of three serving trays with specific mantra’s on this topic. 

Our five outer senses allow us to explore and taste our experience of reality. All sacred places in India activate as much of our senses as possible with incense, bells, shiny statues, food offerings,  flowers and more …  

Focussing on our senses brings us in touch with the present moment, it is the only moment we can truly be alive and detach ourselves from our conditioning.  

Many memories and their energetic residue are triggered through our senses. As we’re often not aware or conscious of our conditioning, it often spoils the present moment and makes us react. Once we have observed and accepted them, we have more ability to respond, hence our expanded response-ability. It is a marvelous thing!

“When someone or something touches us inside, there must be something to be touched, to begin with.”

As we liberate ourselves from our layers of protection, we liberate our inner senses and awaken the aliveness we were all granted with. Liberating our inner senses is the only way to navigate in the unknown, where the mind has no grounds to stand on.

 

Translating my need to be touched into the creations was a pleasure. Besides the specific incense set & the set of spices, all wood was seasoned with fruit and vegetable extracts. All creations also come with a little scented bag. The finished wood, the cotton box & the organic cotton bags are a pleasure to touch.  

My inner experiences through life activated my need to find deeper meaning. It is one of the main reasons I founded Scent&Sense, to begin with. Meaning and the search thereof has always been present in my mind.

I heard many sayings and opinions about meaning. Not finding any meaning held me from engaging with potential. If I didn’t see something as being meaningful, I would start. It was one of my strategies for protection. When I changed my point of view on this, another door into the unknown opened.

We ourselves create meaning, out of all potential. Life holds the potential of all meaning, but we are the ones creating it, or not! I also discovered that the sense of meaning is to be found and experienced when we have one foot in certainty and the other in novelty. 

To embody my need for meaning into the design for the collection, I decided to engrave mantra’s into each creation. Mantras are a means to focus our attention and allow our inner wisdom and meaning to arise. I don’t know exactly how these mantras came to mind during the process of creation.

It was gradually, with a deeper layer each time, that I finally discovered that each mantra pointed to the fundamental principles of human nature. Something I would start writing about, only several years later.