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THE ILLUMINATE BLOG
There is a Bob Marley quote I often return to: “Everything in life has its purpose. Find its reason in every season.” Over the years, I have realized that those words describe much of what I have b...
The Mulberry Doesn't Ask Permission to Ripen
Walk beneath a mulberry tree in midsummer and you may never notice it. Its branches rarely demand attention. The fruit is small. It does not arrive with the fragrance of peaches or the brilliant co...
There is a quiet assumption that has settled into the world of chocolate. The higher the cacao percentage, the better the chocolate. It is an understandable conclusion. Packages display the percent...
Why Did We Name a Moon After a Strawberry?
Every June, the full moon rises with a name that seems almost whimsical. The Strawberry Moon has endured for centuries because it asks the same quiet question every year. What is worth noticing bef...
The Summer Solstice occupies a curious position within the seasonal calendar. It is commonly understood as the beginning of summer, yet it also marks the moment when daylight reaches its greatest d...
What We Learn From Men of Character
Some forms of influence are easy to recognize. They arrive attached to accomplishments, titles, or visible milestones that make their impact obvious to the world around them. Other forms of influen...
The Beauty of Things That Are Not Yet Finished
There is a brief period in the life of an almond that most people never encounter. Before the shell hardens and before the familiar almond fully develops, there is the green almond. Fresh, vibrant,...
The Strawberry That Almost Disappeared
There was a time when strawberries tasted different. Ask anyone who grew up picking berries from a garden or local farm and they will often remember the fragrance first. Before a strawberry ever re...
Protect What Is Still Becoming
There is a kind of intelligence many women carry that moves ahead of language. A feeling before proof. An awareness before explanation. The sense that something is shifting long before it becomes ...
What is gianduia (jahn-DOO-yah) chocolate?
Gianduia chocolate is made by blending chocolate with finely ground hazelnuts. Gianduia emerged in Piemonte during the Napoleonic period, when cocoa became scarce under trade restrictions. Chocol...
Easter, Passover, Ostara, Ramadan, and Eastern traditions all point toward the return of creative energy. Easter arrives during a transitional moment in the year. The landscape has not fully shifte...
Where Vitality Gathers Beneath the Surface Early spring carries a particular kind of energy.The landscape still appears quiet. Trees stand bare and the air holds a lingering chill, yet beneath the ...
Ancient drink of the Mayans. The Violet Flame Cacao Brew. My daily ritual. Used in lieu of coffee to support focus and flow. It offers a gentle lift that is kind to the body and clarifying to the m...