The Art of Punctuation (and Slowing Down)
Dear Somatites,
At Soma we believe that a business succeeds when it has something to share, and not if its only goal is to take. Recently we were watching a video of a friend talking about his company that sells herbal supplements, and it struck us that not once did he describe it as a business. To him, his company is just a means to share his passion for natural health - he’s a herbal evangelist, and commerce is the way he sustains this mission.
We asked ourselves then what we want to share at Soma. Obviously we love exploring the health benefits of cacao, but that’s not our main passion; it’s more a happy bonus. We get really excited about sourcing delicious and unique cacaos for our community to fall in love with, and spin in happy circles like Snowbell before dinner just thinking about launching two new origins this winter, but that is something that has grown with Soma. It’s not the reason Soma began.
The vision that started Soma (which has revealed itself to us gradually) is sharing little rituals. That is what we love most about our business, and most about cacao. The best part of our day is walking to the waterside together in the glowing minutes of dawn, each of us wearing a beanie and each of us carrying a travel mug of Soma Cacao, to sit beneath the pandanus trees and watch the sun rise out of the sea.
We so often hear the phrase “seize the day,” but that’s impossible if the day is not clearly defined. Without punctuation - without carving the day out of the passage of time - the day slips away in a muddle of words and activities. It gets caught up in racing time, submerged beneath the surface, and washed away from our grasping hands.
We live in a world of such manic rush that it has become a superpower to pause. Superheroes need sidekicks, and our sidekick is a cup of cacao. To really see the sun rise, to spend some time going nowhere, chasing nothing, begins a rhythm of pausing in our day, so that from time to time when there’s nothing to do, we are actually ready to do nothing: to bask in the sun, to watch the birds with snowbell, to listen to a song just for the sake of enjoying it.
Our life is like a textile that we stitch together each day. We have been taught to think that we are repairing some tear in the cloth, and the garment will be useless if we do not fix it. But I prefer to think of life as a tapestry, to which each day we add another layer of beauty. The threads are still frayed, and we still stitch them together, but if we learn to pause occasionally and see everything that doesn’t need fixing, the little bits of work that do need doing don’t seem so desperately important. Taking little pauses to appreciate the beauty is what it means to punctuate life.
Actually “seize the day” is a mistranslation. The Latin word “carpe” means “to pick,” like picking a ripe fruit. It requires patience and poise, not a full-on frenzy of action. We hope your morning cup of Soma Cacao helps you see the day that you are picking, and your midday matcha helps you re-focus your eyes before the day rushes by. And we hope your evening hojicha helps you pause to be grateful for the day that has gone.
Life is not measured by how much stitching we do; life is measured by the beauty of the cloth. Sometimes you have to pause, look around you, and realise you live in a tapestry of people and things so much more beautiful than you could ever concoct by yourself. We hope in those moments of peace and silence that you’re holding a cup of Soma Cacao. We certainly are - it’s those perfect little moments that we most want to share at Soma.
With vanilla paste and nutmeg,
Rose, Alistair, and the team at Soma Cacao
1 comment
I resonate with the pictures you paint through your beautiful words. The pause is so delightful when we stop to notice the beauty all around us and the beauty in the people we love and care for. Slowing down from a hurried life, finding internal rest through faith in God has helped me to love well and be grateful for every new morning. (And Soma cacoa of course)!