Memories, A Hierarchy of Needs and Two Years Ago Today

Two years ago today I was on a self-discovery and rejuvenation journey while going through the last stage of a divorce. I chose to spend most of that month of July in a village outside of Paris in total solitude to focus on reflecting on my life, my spirituality, rediscovering creativity and thinking about humanity.  The world was going through the reality and fallout from the pandemic, and in retrospect, it was the most precious time in my life that for a long time, my inner-self was crying for. 

During that month of July, I spent my days listening to a lot of music from Chopin to Blues and Rock, I experimented with taking still life photos of mundane things to see the beauty in them, and did a lot of what I term "creative cooking" --using whatever I had in the refrigerator to make a tasteful dish without turning to a recipe.  I also walked every day to discover the village and surrounding areas, often walking into St. Germain en Laye for a visit to their cathedral or walk the grounds of the chateau.  Chambourcy was the village I stayed in, and I will always cherish the days that I wandered around that village to discover the array of roses that lined the sidewalks and the variety of this beautiful flower that were in full bloom near the Mairie (the town hall). Of course, I smelled all of them, took photos and made notations describing their scents and differences for which I will keep forever in my camera roll and my scent memory.

Every day, I went to get a demi-baguette from the Boulangerie and would sometimes stop at the cafe on the plaza for a cafe au lait but I always went to the little village church to sit in silence, pray and think. I cried too. 

What resulted from that precious month away from the noise and stress was the development of a fragrance concept focused on the hierarchy of human needs that are based on a famous psychological concept developed by psychologist, Abraham Maslow in 1943.  According to Maslow (and I agree), all humans need the following: Water and nourishment, security and safety, love, belonging and connectivity, self-esteem and freedom and lastly, self-actualization.  Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is often explained in a pyramid form--very much like how we describe and formulate fragrances which always starts at the base of the pyramid with the "foundation".....the ingredients that hold up and are building blocks for the remaining ingredients. I found the parallels very interesting, intriguing and it was that AHA moment when I decided to create the Scent Therapy-Hierarchy of Needs® collection.  The photo for this blog is a sketching of a bottle I made on July 19, 2022 when building my concept. Two years later, I would receive an approval from the USPTO for a trademark, and WATER was developed and on the market.  WATER will be followed up by SANCTUARY, LOVE, FREEDOM and FULL BLOOM. 

Because the concept is universal for all human needs, I have developed fragrances that are non-gender.  I only hope that I may be able to get to the point where I can successfully launch SANCTUARY, because so many people in this world are seeking calm and security. LOVE above all, is what so many of us need. 

More from the Scent Guru in weeks to come.  Authored this day, July 19, 2024 by Ruth Sutcliffe, The Scent Guru