Beans and Love will save the world

Apr 14

I’m part of a very special club that fills me with endless delight.

It’s a bean club.

I’m going to tell you about this bean club — but not for the reasons you might expect. Because this article is about more than just beans…it’s about saving the world ;)

Ready for a ride?

For the love of the bean

Here is my humble brag: I am a member of the Rancho Gordo Bean Club. IYKYK…and if you don’t know:

This bean club I’m in, of all things, has a waitlist of over 30,000 people.

I never thought I would be so ecstatic to be part of a club where I get fancy beans shipped to my house every quarter.

But I’m not the only “beaniac” out there. We are a community of thousands of people who love beans.

(I’m laugh-dying as I write this. To brag about loving beings? I’ve come so far since the childhood jingles…)

There’s a Facebook group for those in the club that is somehow the friendliest place on the internet. I’ve been part of it since 2019, which means the group survived 2020 and onward without devolving too far into political feuds and cancel culture.

It even has the miracle of vegan recipes and meat-heavy shares existing side-by-side…Gasp!

You know my theory about why?

Because it’s infused with love.

Love of the bean. ;)

(I’m cracking up. I probably find this much funnier than everyone else.)

And love of food — real, good food. This club is filled with people who care about having a new assortment of colorful heirloom beans, grown in small biodiverse farms, shipped to their door each quarter. People who love knowing where their food comes from and the stories of the people who grew it.

I love being part of what I see as an antidote to the monocrops that have taken over so much of our farmland. These are small-batch heirloom beans — many from Mexico, some from Europe, and many from right here in the United States — in colors and varieties you simply cannot find at a typical grocery store. Every single shipment is a reflection of what biodiversity can look like when we actually partner with, versus dominate, the land.

But the box isn’t just beans…

Every quarterly delivery comes with a newsletter written by Steve Sando, the founder of Rancho Gordo. These newsletters generally open with a personal reflection on food, cooking, the kitchen, and life, followed by little bean stories and recipes.

Reading such a thing might not sound like much — but it’s 100% part of the bean club magic.

Because here is a person who loves what he does so much — who loves beans and food and people and the story behind all of it so much — that I feel the love in his words. I feel his passion for food, beans, and farms in my own bones.

And the passion is contagious.

***

There is a magic that happens when you authentically share what you love. Whatever you pour your love into becomes infused with love itself.

Cliché but true: Love is just about the highest frequency vibration we can access, embody, and share with the world.

And I think the bean club newsletter reminds us that the frequency of love can travel through any medium.

***

When I read Steve’s newsletters, I feel lit up by gratitude that I get to participate in something so strange and beautiful as a collective of bean lovers.

I get to support small farms, biodiversity, and my own health. I get to tap into creativity with new beans and colors and shapes and textures to play with in the kitchen.

I’m exceptionally sensitive — I’ll acknowledge that. I work with energy healing for a living, so I’m pretty in tune with my own energetic body. And y’all. I feel my energy light up when I think about being part of such a big field of love.

And for goodness sake. This is all from beans.

Your offerings, creations, and sharings do not need to look big and dramatic to impact those around you.

By simply following your authentic, soul-aligned passions and delights — in even the tiniest ways — you set off a ripple effect that might have consequences far more reaching than you realize.

From Chaos to Creativity

Making space for what delights the soul sounds lovely and beautiful, I’m sure. But let’s be honest: following these heart callings is often a challenge.

Because it’s really hard to follow your heart if you’re in survival mode.

We are fed a stream of information that keeps us focused on that dance between fear and safety. Even a lot of messaging about returning to earth-centered lifestyles plays on fear of collapse with survivalist tones.

To trust your heart when your mind says, play it safe! is actually like working a magic spell on your subconscious. You’re telling yourself, at the deepest levels, that you are more powerful than fear. That your ideas and dreams matter. That your joy matters.

Starting small works: What is one little thing you can today just for the fun of it? What is one passion you could give even the tiniest bit more energy to?

Follow through, and that subconscious spell takes root.

Then: When we come from delight, we make different decisions than when we are entrenched in fear.

Yet when we can drop out of survival mode, even more just a few moments, and realign with creative visions born of love and delight, we show up differently in the world around us. And the world responds to our new energy.

We are in challenging times. There’s no use in ignoring what’s true.

Your creative soul is the antidote to our collective chaos.

Beauty shifts us out of entropy.

Listening to the most authentic desires and dreams harbored in your heart is a beautiful thing. Bringing them to life an act of creation.

The Art of Small Dose Community

I’m not immune to the threats of collapse consciousness and economic insecurity. Survival is always at least in the back of my mind if not the forefront. I’m very familiar with how challenging it can be to shift out of fear and find enough faith to create through chaos.

You know what helps me the most? Community.

I know, I know. The word “community” has started to reflect a millennial pipe dream more than a real way of being in the world. And if you aren’t on the community bandwagon — I get it. I’m a hermit at heart. Most of the year, the only community I actually want in my life are trees.

And cats. And wine. And books. And beans…obviously ;) Because I am nothing if not a set of very accurate stereotypes.

But when it feels like the entire world is telling you to be afraid, it’s very helpful to have a community that brings hope.

I prefer my community in small doses, so retreats are perfect for me. Months alone followed by a shorter immersion in the land of other humans suits my natural rhythms best.

Last year, I attended a three-week art and ecology retreat where I learned how to make natural pigments. The instructor — Daniela Naomi Molnar — was so passionate about not only pigments but the ability of art to transform human consciousness that I couldn’t help but feel that buzzing sensation within my being...that frequency shift into authentic delight.

Quick note: Can we just pause for a moment and reflect on how amazingly wonderful it is that both beans and art can change the world? This is the power of soul-aligned passions and following your heart callings — not despite the wild times we’re in but because of them.

Spending weeks in a cocoon of other humans who delighted in their art impacted me at a soul level. I showed up exhausted and desperate need of rest. By the time I left, I was not only motivated to paint more — I was reminded that my art matters, even if very few people in the world own an original Juniper Stokes ;)

Your art matters too.

my notebook and test piece, noting natural pigments with delight

(And yes, coming full circle, I did make pigment from beans, inspired by the purplish water from a midnight black bean soak. A fugitive ink, but a lovely one. Pinkish with acid, bluish with more alkalinity.)

Delighting Our Way through Challenge

This workshop was on art and ecology — and if you know much about ecology, you are probably sad.

It’s true. You are for sure in awe of the magic of nature, but also really, deeply sad at how humans treat our planet.

Love and delight do not bypass pain and challenge.

So, as we processed plants and stones, we talked about hard things. We talked about the challenges facing our environment. The threats to the old growth we have here in the Northwest. We talked about the impacts of cattle grazing on public lands. The dismantling of groups that protect the environment by the current administration.

We had really hard conversations — because we love this planet.

Topics that could easily lead to greater division led us deeper into our hearts because the love was so damn authentic. Our heartfelt desire for a healthy planet infused us with healing frequencies because our conversations were so authentically led by love.

Then we moved our grief from our hearts to our hands to paint and pigments upon our paper. When challenging emotions come from a place of love, this frequency helps us fully meet what needs to be seen and transformed.

Read: What is Ecological Trauma, and How Might We Navigate its Pervasive Presence in Our Hearts?

Sometimes Steve’s bean club newsletters mention his feelings about the state of things today — and the state of things is often rough. But each time, the shares reflect a deeper love: a reminder that something as small as the humble bean can feed the parts of us that are really hungry.

Your love is the stone, the water, and the ripples themselves.

Your heartfelt creations do not need to reach a big audience in order to heal our world.

Given my bean subscription, I’m sure it will come as no surprise that I love to cook. When I make myself stop working for the day (which isn’t always easy) and bring myself to the kitchen, I put on music, maybe pour a glass of wine, and then I engage my senses with the colors, the smells, the flavors, and the textures of the food I make.

I’m not cooking for a crowd. I don’t post food pics online. No one but myself — and a handful of lucky loved ones, who are also willing to help with the dishes — really receives the love I put into my cooking creations.

But cooking changes me.

My frequency shifts. And from here, the decisions I make shift, as well.

Each little decision that comes from delight and love sparks more of that energy. And eventually, this ripples far beyond my kitchen.

A Very Simple Bowl of Slow Cooked Beans — A Recipe to Share the Love
Grab a half pound of your favorite dried beans. Notice the color, texture, and size. Little jewels. Gifts of the earth. Delight in your beans ;)
Pour them into a bowl or pot to soak. Listen to the music they make as they tumble upon the hard surface.
Rinse and sort as needed. Then cover the beans with water. Notice how the color changes. Soak overnight.
Awaken with delight that there is a pot of beans awaiting your attention.
Change the water if you have sensitive digestion. House plants love it. Or don’t. (Changing bean water is bizarre source of endless controversy.)
Make sure your beans are covered with at least two inches of water. Add bay leaves. Salt if you dare (another controversy). A quick sauteéd mirepoix is optional.
Slow cook on medium for 5-6 hours, checking often for tenderness. Enjoy the process. Pretend you are an ancestor, stepping out of the hustle of modern life with a long, slow pot of beans.
(You can still pretend to be old-timey with the slowcook setting on an Instantpot. No rules.)
When your beans are done to your liking, scoop them into a bowl with a slotted spoon. Top with salt, pepper, and a generous dollop of high quality olive oil.
This is enough.
Or, get creative. Chopped tomatoes, fresh herbs, a handful of seasonal greens, sliced crunchy veggies, a bit of lemon juice or pickled onions…allow your desires and delights into this humble bowl of beans.
Reserve the broth and extra beans for future creations.

Use Your Voice

There is one more piece to all of this I want to reinforce: it’s your passion that matters — not the form it takes.

Those who have been around here for a while know that I am almost obsessively passionate about aromatic art — specifically, the botanical perfumes and anointing oils I make. This is an offering that is a significant part of what I share with the world. It’s a form of art that brings me endless joy.

When someone receives and uses one of these perfumes or oils, I know that their entire energy field responds not only to the love I’ve poured into each creation, but to the frequency of the plants within each blend. I’m grateful for the feedback that confirms this.

If you’re just getting started, might I recommend my chakra anointing kit? A total crowd pleaser. Or, if you prefer a spray perfume, Sakura, a soliflore of cherry blossoms, is lovely for spring ;)

But here’s the thing: You don’t actually need to wear one of my perfumes to benefit from the passion I pour into them.

Time and again, people reflect that simply listening to me talk about my perfumes shifts something within them. It’s my words, infused with my authentic love for this creative art form, that sparks a connection with their own passion and creativity.

I feel this anytime I listen to someone else share their deepest passions — and it never ceases to amaze me how it doesn’t matter what the subject is. If you gave a lecture on naked mole rats, I would be inspired if the passion was there (which it is in this Oatmeal comic).

When you share something you’re passionate about, when you let us into your creative process and the love behind it, we can all feel more connected to our own creative forces.

***

It does not matter if anyone else ever even sees what you make.

When you indulge your desires and create something you love, you are spreading the healing frequencies of love, delight, and passion throughout the world.

But if you do feel inspired, go ahead and talk about it. Let your words and stories share your creative process. Let them spark that fire in others.

We can already see what happens when we build our world on a foundation of fear. Let’s see what happens when we create from pure delight

News & Announcements

Upcoming Workshops

SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP AT THE THRESHOLD

How to Cultivate Creative Agency, Vision, and the Capacity to Guide Others

LIVE 3-Hour Online Workshop | April 16th w/replay | $47

Current models of leadership tend to attract dark triad personalities. It is our task to co-create a new model of leadership that keeps us connected with the beauty of being human in these metamorphic times. Join me to explore just what the means and how we do it!

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The Living Web: Restoring Soul Coherence in a Fragmented World — April 22, FREE online workshop (yes, on Earth Day!)

There is a reason you can do years of deep work and still feel like something is missing: it’s because you are working from a fragmented signal. In this workshop, we’ll explore what it means to shift from fragmentation (within self, with Earth, with the cosmos) and into wholeness. This is soul coherence and it’s the calling of our time.

This workshop is FREE! It’s an Earth Day offering to bring us into coherence with not just our own souls but the greater soul of the Earth herself.

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The Wild Alchemy Practitioner Program begins May 2026

Interviews are happening now! Learn More + Apply.

This year’s program is $2000 less than it will be in future runs, and it won’t happen again until 2028. If you are ready to step into the life your soul is here to live, do not wait on this.

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Botanicals & More

Scents for Spring: Seasonal Botanical Perfumes Are Here

Spring is here and with it comes new life and fresh scents.

From sweet cherry blossoms to balsamy fawns, soft florals and starlit skies, this set of spring aromas will meet every mood to carry you through our new season. Smell unique. Make magic.

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NEW!BESPOKE FRAGRANCES

After years of requests, I’m finally opening spots for custom perfume and anointing oil creations. I’ve laid out the entire process here — please take a look and let me know if you have any questions!

ONE-ON-ONE SESSIONS OPENING SOON

I’ll be opening a few spots for personal healing sessions soon. These come around a few times a year and tend to sell out quickly. Get on the waitlist here.

Juniper Stokes is a botanical perfumer, soul alchemist, intuitive astrologer, and rewilding guide through mythic landscapes of nature, spirit, and the cosmos. For over 25 years, she has been guiding soulful humans back to the heart of who they are and why they're here.