Radiant is one of our Power Words here at I’m Organic ™. Feels really true to me when I think of people I know who choose organic. When I look back over my life, the people who seemed most radiant tended to be the organic ones and often vegetarians or vegans. And often those same people tended to be people who loved the outdoors.

Like our family friends the Schroeers. And much like my family, they grew many of their own vegetables. But you can often run into Mrs. Schroeer at the local farmer’s market too. And she glows! She radiates. Her skin shines not oily at all, but like it glows from the inside. And her eyes twinkle with laughter. It fills a space around her with an energetic warmth. She is radiant.

For several years, we went canoeing with the Schroeers, spending several days with their whole family. Sometimes fourteen or more of us for three to five day trips. Mrs. Schroeer radiated the whole time. Whether she was jumping from the bluffs or cooking over the camp stove, she glowed. It was more than skin deep. It permeated all of her all the time.

I can’t say for sure it was organic food that did it. Maybe it was the spirit that made the choice to be organic, to be vegetarian, to treasure the outdoors, to try in her own ways to make the world better place for herself, her family, her friends, and her fellow man.

She certainly isn’t the only radiant person I know. My friend Theresa seems to have an inner light on. It seeps through her pores, out her eyes, flows from her lips when she talks. Is it all food related? Is it sleeping on organic sheets? Is it those organic body products? I don’t know. I can’t say. But I suspect it goes much deeper into the very being of someone who commits to being a contribution to the world. And one way they do it is through choosing organic. I hope I radiate. Maybe if I keep eating organic and get rid of more of the chemicals in my life, I will be more radiant.