“We keep thinking that the human is evolving. No, the human has evolved to its extent. What’s happening now is the organization of humans: just like cells organize to form people, people are organizing to form humanity.”
Bruce Lipton
We are evolving. Businesses have initiated changes and innovations over the last few months, and ours have led to the rebuilding of Bella’s foundation. Our mission is to facilitate a positive community lifestyle by creatively informing, inspiring, and entertaining. Our vision is to remain relevant and accessible through time, technology, and community changes.
Within the pages of this month’s issue you will finally see the first glimpse of our new Palmetto Bella Magazine. Still young, it is nestled amongst the folds of Aiken Bella as an insert to its well-established predecessor. As we expand to the entire state, we want to take a moment to reflect on where Bella started, Aiken, and how we came to live here.
Though I was not born here, I do consider Aiken my home town. I have spent the last 20 years of my life living here and couldn’t have dreamt of a better place. I moved here from Colorado, a vast and expansive state with gorgeous views, an outdoorsman’s paradise. Though beautiful, I was always uncomfortable with how big it was, how far you had to drive to get to other places.
When I first arrived in South Carolina, I immediately felt at home among all the trees. The dogwood and Bradford pear trees were in bloom, and everything was green, so unlike the snow-covered mountains that I had left behind.
Aiken is the perfect centralized location for enjoying all the wonderful things the South has to offer. It, too, is a beautiful area and an outdoorsman’s paradise. This is fortunate because I love being outside in nature. Hitchcock Woods is one of my favorite spots to visit for a vigorous hike or for a picnic at the horse grounds. There are several golf courses, horse show venues, racing tracks, and polo fields. The many parks and outdoor areas located throughout the town, including the newly landscaped Park Avenue downtown, are perfect for sharing with family or for meditating alone. The Alley is the center of the bustling restaurant and bar life. We have several wonderful museums and visual and performing art centers. Bella is known for her comprehensive community calendar, and we eagerly look forward to a return of community events to educate and inspire us. Please stay tuned for the reappearance of “Bella Buzz” in the coming months.
Aiken is surrounded by amazing places within a drive of three hours or less: Augusta and the Savannah River, which forms South Carolina’s western border — Columbia, the state capital — the Atlantic Ocean and its beaches that form the state’s eastern border, housing historical gems like Charleston and Beaufort — the mountains of the Upstate, forming the northern border, rich in hiking trails, waterfalls, and amazing views.
As always, I am delighted and inspired by the content graciously contributed by our writers. Thomas Herlong is intrigued by how the brain works and writes about three things that provide satisfaction to the brain. He says, “Our brains want safety and prefer that which is known.” I found that particularly interesting as my partner Tad Jones and I wrote our first joint monthly column entitled “Our Experiences,” where we share with you things we have found within Aiken and around the state that were unknown to us.
As a complement to my experience of Aiken from the inside looking out in the Aiken Bella editorial, Tad writes of his experience of Aiken from the outside looking in, found in Palmetto Bella’s editorial on page 14. Through our partnership with the magazine and traveling in and around Aiken, we are fascinated by the connections that form and run through Aiken.
We hope everyone has weathered the quarantine as well as possible. We have felt the hardship and embraced the solitude. Stores and restaurants are opening again — we are encouraged and grateful to see familiar faces again. If you see a graduate, please offer your congratulations. If you see a nurse, please offer your heartfelt thanks. And when it is safe to embrace your friends and loved ones again, hold them just a little longer than before.
