I must admit, I was nervous. I am always a little nervous before a presentation. I have learned to welcome this feeling—it tells me I care, it tells me I am prepared. However, this was different. This was the nervousness of impostor syndrome.
Kotodama of Scent
I was in Japan to launch the Japanese edition of Kotodama of Scent. I was struggling to find the right words for my presentation. You see, the book was written for a Western audience. It was my attempt to share with the world what 18 years of visiting Japan has given me—a deep love for the nuanced, layered culture, and for the often untranslatable words of the Japanese language; words that carry within them entire emotional worlds.
The word Kotodama means the spirit or power of words. It is the Japanese belief that words are capable of shaping our reality—influencing our environment, our minds and our souls. The word resonated with me because essential oils can also transform the way we feel, the way we think, the way we move through the world. It therefore seemed so natural to pair each of the 28 words I had chosen for the book with an essential oil. Both carry invisible power to heal and transform.
But now I was standing in front of a Japanese audience, presenting Japanese words back to the people they belong to. I found myself wondering—will these words hold the same fascination for them? Will they simply nod politely and think: yes Sal, we know these words, we have always known them?
And then something shifted.
My 'Aha' Moment
It was a conversation with Jogo San, the head priest of Jimyoin temple in Koyasan, that became my 'aha' moment.
When I began explaining my work to him and mentioned the framework of positive psychology on which the book was based, he looked at me with a gentle bemusement. The word 'positive' puzzled him. Why would a positive emotional state be considered better than a negative one? Who decides what is positive and what is negative?
After I sat with that for a moment, it all made sense.
In the West, if someone were experiencing setsunai—the aching, bittersweet sadness of holding onto something lost for too long, it may be pathologised, called depression, and then one would be prescribed medication. We would try to fix it. But in Japan, setsunai is not something to be fixed. It is something to be felt, to be honoured, to be woven into the fabric of one's being. The same is true of mono no aware—the gentle melancholy of impermanence. These states are not problems, they are part of what it means to be alive and fully human.
This was the insight I had been searching for. What if the gift that these Japanese words offer a Western reader is not simply their beauty, but the emotional states they describe? Emotional states that have no name in English, and therefore, for many of us, no clear permission to be felt? To name something is to make space for it, and that is precisely what these words do.
What I did not know at the time was that this instinct of mine was supported by the work of neuroscientist Dr Lisa Feldman Barrett—and when I discovered this, I felt a deep sense of excitement and relief. It is so exciting to have an idea confirmed by science.
Barrett's theory of constructed emotion proposes something quite different from the traditional view that emotions are biologically hardwired. She suggests that emotions are not simply read off the body like a biological programme—they are constructed by the mind, shaped by culture, and crucially, shaped by language. The more words we have for our emotional states, the more precisely we can perceive and experience them. She calls this emotional granularity.
This is what the Japanese language offers us. Not just beautiful words, but a finer, richer map of our inner emotional life. As I write this, I realise that essential oils support this same granularity. By engaging the olfactory system and the limbic brain, they help us access and differentiate emotional states with greater sensitivity and depth. They extend our emotional vocabulary, not through words, but through scent.
It was in this light that I presented the Japanese edition of Kotodama of Scent and yes—my Japanese audience loved the presentation and book.
A Blend I Will Never Forget
At the end of each launch event, I invited participants to create a blend by choosing one Japanese word to describe how they feel right now, and a second word to describe how they would like to feel. The participants then selected the signature essential oil representing each emotional state and, following a blending technique I had developed, created their own personal transformational blend,
After one of these sessions, I smelt a blend made by someone who had never created an aromatherapy blend before. When I smelt it I felt deeply moved, it had depth, warmth, comfort, a melancholy that only rock rose possesses and yet it also embodied a warm feeling of hope. It was a remarkable blend with rock rose, sweet fennel, pine, sandalwood, patchouli and bergamot.
I asked what her two words were. She said: setsunai and kaifuku-ryoku.
Setsunai refers to the ache of holding something lost, and kaifuku-ryoku can be translated as resilience—the capacity to recover, to rise again after life has brought you to your knees.
When I asked her why she had chosen these words, she told me that last year her son had taken his own life. I could not find the right words, except to offer my condolence, and I simply held out my hands and held hers.
She thanked me and explained how much she had enjoyed the presentation and was so looking forward to reading the book. She explained that her blend felt like magic and helped her feel a calm she had not felt for a long time.
I share this story not to end on a heavy note, but to explain how Kotodama of Scent can act as a powerful catalyst for change in the way we feel. It is this belief, that scent and language together can reach places words alone cannot, that also gave rise to the book, the Kokoro Collection and Kokoro Natural Perfume.
Kokoro is such a beautiful word which translates as 'heart', but in truth refers to the essence of one's being, encompassing our emotions, thoughts, and intentions as one inseparable whole. This word is the perfect embodiment of what we do at Perfect Potion. We create aromatherapy blends that help us find inner peace and harmony—blends that nurture our heart and build deeper connections with ourselves and others.
I created Kokoro Natural Perfume to celebrate the launch of the Japanese Edition of Kotodama of Scent. In appreciation of your support, please enjoy a beautiful Kokoro Natural Perfume as our gift with every purchase over $60. Only until midnight AEST Sunday 5 July 2026.
With warmth and gratitude,
One of the participants took Sal's book to her grandmother, who adored it so much that she requested to keep it!
A note on support
If you or someone you know is struggling, please know that help is always available. In Australia, Lifeline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on 13 11 14. Beyond Blue can be reached on 1300 22 4636. You are never alone, and reaching out is always the right thing to do.
