The little pot of basil on the windowsill in the kitchen is a bit past its prime. A few of the leaves are brown, the soil is fairly dry, and one stem is quite distinctly leaning towards the light. It would be so easy to just replace it and be done with it. Instead, someone does the sensible thing and fills a glass with water, snips off the dead leaves and moves the pot a bit closer to the sun. It’s a very minor thing, not really worth a mention at all, but there’s a certain satisfaction in giving a plant a second chance to grow.
Life is full of these moments. They happen all the time; you just don’t notice. You can often find the impetus for a new phase of life in a change of scenery or a new passion. Sometimes it’s a matter of paying attention to something that’s been there all along. The desire to keep on learning, creating, and finding meaning in life doesn’t necessarily wane with age. In fact, for some it can actually increase.
At 81, Star Riparetti, founder of Star Essence, is a real-life example of what sustained curiosity can look like. She’s still coming up with new ideas and working on the next phase of her business. It’s a story of nature, discovery and the belief that there’s always more to learn.
A Different Kind of Rejuvenation
Founded in Santa Barbara, CA, in 1994, Star Essence grew out of Riparetti’s love of flowers and her conviction that they had subtle gifts to offer. The company now has over 300 essences in its range, its well-known Constellations blends, and a range of aromatic sprays. It’s now based near Hot Springs, Arkansas, but remains very much the same company with the same focus on nature and the spiritual.
What’s so interesting about Riparetti’s story is that she is still deeply invested in the business she started. She’s still in the process of developing ideas, refining her educational offerings and looking at new avenues to explore and include in the range. The Venus essence that’s currently in progress focuses on self-image, self-love, receptivity and the appreciation of your own beauty.
It is an approach to growing older that feels refreshingly different from the familiar emphasis on holding back time. Rather than treating age as something to overcome, Riparetti’s continuing work invites another perspective: a life can remain full of possibility because there are still questions to ask, ideas to follow, and relationships to deepen.
Personal development doesn’t necessarily mean a complete reinvention of yourself. It could simply be getting back into a creative pursuit that you’ve put aside for years, learning a new skill or allowing yourself to become interested in something without any idea of where it might lead. The point isn’t to be perpetually busy. The point is to be open to the experiences that make life worthwhile and interesting.
Following an Unexpected Path
Riparetti’s route to flower essences was not a straightforward one. Before establishing Star Essence, she served as Chief Technologist and Director of the School of Nuclear Medicine Technology at the Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara. Her professional background involved scientific work and caring for people, while her later interests led her towards questions of nature, consciousness, and spiritual well-being.
A “Flowers for Healing” advert was the catalyst that changed everything. She recounts the moment in her book Bliss and Blessings: The Divine Alchemy of the Star Flower and Gemstone Essences, the sheer excitement that prompted her to go and find out more. She subsequently went on to study Bach flower essences and became very much interested in the whole tradition.
A trip to Peru was where she met botanist and guide Roger Valencia, who shared her love of wild orchids. Together they went on to develop the Andean Orchid Flower Essences of Machu Picchu, which formed the basis of the Star Essences.
Her story shows how one interest can lead to another in the most unexpected of ways. The skills you’ve acquired, the experiences you’ve had and the questions you’ve asked along the way can all become part of something else entirely, even if the end point is very different from the starting point.
Making Space for the Inner Life
At the very heart of Star Essence is Riparetti’s belief that attending to your inner life is as important as attending to your outer bodies. Her approach to making the essences is one of a deep relationship with nature, as well as one of love, intention and integrity. The water used in the preparations is drawn from the crystalline springs in the area around her home in Arkansas.
Flower and gemstone essences are water-based preparations which are part of the vibrational wellness traditions. They are used within those traditions as tools for emotional exploration, spiritual connection and personal development. The intended uses are very different to any form of established medical treatment, and the preparations should not be regarded as a substitute for proper healthcare.
For those unfamiliar with the approach, the general concept of creating space for reflection may be more familiar. A few minutes of journal writing, sitting quietly outside or just sitting and thinking about an experience before reacting to it can provide an opportunity to become aware of what is going on inside. It doesn’t have to be anything esoteric or involve a complex routine.
For Riparetti, nature is a constant source of inspiration. Her work is about encouraging people to think about how their relationship with nature might also be a source of reflection and a source of connection.
One Heart: An Invitation to Connect
Connection is another of the key themes in Star Essence. It’s about the connection you have with yourself, the people you are around, and the world at large. It can sound like a very abstract concept, but it’s very much something that manifests in the average day. It’s about listening without necessarily having an answer, being there for a difficult conversation, being open to the idea that someone else’s experience may be quite different to your own.
One Heart, made with the Andean orchid Epidendrum cuscoense, is all about acceptance, love and unity. It’s part of the company’s flower essence tradition and is used for exploring genuine connection and the balance of the masculine and feminine. Riparetti also uses it in circles and ceremonies as an invitation to shared heart-centered awareness.
The One Heart themes can also lead to some interesting questions that go beyond the product itself. How often do you give yourself the same level of understanding that you give to a friend? Can you actually listen to someone without having a response ready in your head as they’re speaking? Are you prepared to re-think an assumption when someone else’s experience comes along and challenges it?
There’s no essence that will guarantee healthier relationships or resolve the difficult emotions that come up. Connection is about attention, patience and action. That said, a personal ritual can be a useful way of anchoring an intention in your life and making it more real in the way you go about your day-to-day existence.
A Pause in the Middle of the Day
Not every moment of reflection has to be a quiet, solitary thing. Sometimes a simple sensory trigger can act as a marker to signal the end of one thing and the beginning of another. Closing a laptop, taking a few breaths outside, or noticing the smell of a certain flower can all be enough to make a very busy afternoon feel less grueling.
Angel Rejuvenation Spray, also known as the Divine Energy Healing Mist, is a fragrance spray which combines the essence of the Eternal Youth orchid with frankincense, lavender and geranium essential oils in a base of sacred activated water. It’s designed as a facial and aura mist to be used during meditation, reflection or as a moment of refreshment.
Its appeal in the context of a daily ritual is the combination of scent and a moment of stillness. You’re at that point in the afternoon when the emails have all started to merge into one, and your attention is beginning to drift. Instead of just ploughing straight into the next task, you take a short break, use the mist as instructed and breathe slowly for a moment or two before getting back to what you were doing.
Well-Being Is Also About Belonging
Although individual reflection occupies a significant place in Riparetti’s philosophy, her interests go well beyond that. The Star Portal in Mountain Pine, Arkansas, is a place of gathering where community, music, ceremony and nature all come together. It is a reflection of a wider conception of well-being in which communal experience is as valid as time spent in solitude.
Riparetti’s own practice is yoga, tai chi chih, kirtan, time in nature and joyful gathering. They’re all different in form, but each is a way of being in something beyond the demands of work and the day-to-day responsibilities.
Riparetti’s ongoing involvement in her work and her community is what brings all of this together. Her story is that personal growth isn’t just about looking inwards; it can also be about being in the world, having conversations, and discovering all sorts of new reasons to show up for people.
There Is Always More to Bloom
More than 30 years on from founding Star Essence, Riparetti is still looking forward. The Practitioner Certification Course and the upcoming Venus essence are both in the pipeline. Far from seeing her earlier work as the end of the story, she’s very much still in the process of working out what comes next.
That openness to the continual process of discovery is probably the most enduring element in her attitude to life. Renewal doesn’t necessarily mean doing everything over again or embarking on some carefully thought-out program of self-development. It can simply start with a question, a conversation, an interest that’s new to you or just a little more time spent observing the world.
Star Essence is the coming together of Riparetti’s love of flowers, her spiritual perspective and her interest in the many ways that people go about seeking out their own personal meaning. The products are specific expressions of that philosophy, and her own journey is the broader story: a testament to the fact that you can still be curious and creative throughout your life.
Perhaps the next beginning is smaller than you expect. It may be as simple as returning to that pot of basil on the windowsill, giving it a little water, and turning it towards the light. There is no need to know exactly how much it will grow. For now, it is enough to make room for the possibility.
