Touched By A Scent

I quit making New Year's resolutions a few years back. They only led to sad, or even angry, disappointment with myself when I didn't keep them. I found, as many others have found, that if you say you'll try, you won't, but if you just do it, it's done.

I started using essential oils years ago, and found myself in love with the benefits derived from their study and use. I didn't plan to use them, or think about using them, I just marched out to a health food store and bought a small bottle that smelled appealing and then drove directly to the book store to start my research. (You could use the library for that purpose, if you want to save some upfront money.)

Start with something simple .... add some fragrance to your environment by creating a mixed potpourri this year. The September issue of the Touched By A Scent newsletter gave you directions for creating your own potpourri. And with all the seed catalogs and gardening magazines filling your mailbox right now, you can start actively planning your fragrant garden for spring and summer, which you can turn into your own fragrant potpourri this fall and winter.

Look for highly fragranced and colored sages, roses, herbs .... whatever appeals to you. Order plants and seeds now so you'll be ready to roll when it's time to get outside and start planting.

I will be building a memory garden for Mother this spring. I am thinking of lots of fragrant butterfly bushes, heliotrope, and the perfect old-fashioned rose. I'll add various veronica, salvia, and daylilies for lots of color to complement the fragrance of the other flowers. I will use flowers that aren't usually grown for their essential oils, but which provide aromatherapy as they toss their colorful heads in the breeze. A verdigris statue of St. Francis of Assisi will stand watch over these plants, and a garden angel will keep them company in shade and in sun.

What could be an easier way to try aromatherapy on your own? All you have to do, is plan a small garden, and just do it. Then when summer warms the petals of your new garden, you can stroll through your garden (depending on how ambitious you are in creating a large or small garden), or bring a comfortable chair to your garden and let nature's fragrances soothe you and delight you. We've talked about the increased benefits from adding therapies together - and with this garden you'll even experience color therapy when you gaze around with pride at the oasis of peace that you have created.

George, our webmaster, has been working hard to add new pages for your pleasure. We have the new Flourishes page, which shows off our aroma lamps and other fun and exciting accessories. We have added a Links page to share some very endearing and/or useful sites. BuyItOnline (our secure shopping cart) has gone out of the online mall business, but there is a simple email form on our website, for check and money order sales, until we get a new secure shopping cart constructed. Write to Touched By A Scent at our Owensboro address to request a hardcopy of our catalog. Or email us at info@TBAScent.com with questions.