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Simple Gift #2: Fuel Up

The second post of the Simple Gift of Light series is the first step of relighting your life: fuel up. The first step towards improving your life with the simple gift of light is to start seeing light like our ancestors did: as a mystical, magical, and even sacred gift. This is going to take […]

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Vegas: City of Light (seeing)

Vegas hotels lit up at night

Las Vegas is not the city of light, it is the city of lighting. Electric lighting. Lots and lots of electric lighting. And since Vegas is all about nightlife and casinos-without-windows, it is impossible to see anything in Las Vegas without Lightseeing. I was there with the team a few weeks ago for a conference, […]

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We’re on a Mission

Two people walking on a path through barren woods on a sunny day

Note: I began this post in a different world, a pre-coronavirus world.  Now, as many more of us are sheltering in place, light at home is more critical than ever.  Now, as many of us face illness, the benefits of light for wellness are more important than ever.  We’re still on a mission to help. […]

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Lightseeing Blues

A building side covered with windows of various sizes and several patches of lights

This series of posts may lead you to believe that I am always looking at lighting and that would be a false impression.  I also look at billboards for injury attorneys, the back of the airplane seat in front of me, the speedometer, the GPS.  I usually do not set out intentionally to look at […]

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Time to Glow

A digital sketch of a living room and dining area with focus on adding soft lighting elements

It all started with a sketch. I wanted to add glow to a table that would be easy for clients to use every night, like candles but without the dripping and smoking and constant replacing. It is easy to sketch, but something altogether different to make happen in reality. Then we moved into our current […]

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Human Centric Lighting…or Profit Centric Lighting?

A seagull flies above an ice covered lake at sunrise near Madison, WI

Human Centric Lighting (HCL) is a nebulous term quickly replacing Circadian Lighting as the go-to language for describing lighting strategies intended to improve our lives. The more expansive idea behind HCL is that it includes circadian rhythm science but also accounts for moment-to-moment human wellness, comfort, and needs. Human Centric Lighting sounds awesome, doesn’t it? Recently […]

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Lightseeing 2

Ceiling lights that are large recessed squares covering the whole ceiling area

We take light for granted: we assume it will be bright enough to see whenever we want it so, even in the middle of the night. We assume entrances will be lit, lobbies will be illuminated, restaurants will glow. Sometimes, despite being taken for granted, we notice something that catches our eye. I call this […]

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Fine Homebuilding Kitchen

The cover of Kitchens & Baths magazine no. 287 - Rethinking the Kitchen

Imagine the future: light helps you keep your balance as you age, cuts down on point sources that cause glare, minimizes sleep disturbances, and helps you see what you are doing better than ever. Wouldn’t it be nice?  Pushing these boundaries requires experiments like our recent lighting makeover at my parents’ farmhouse in Illinois.  The […]

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Lightovation 2020

The outside of Dallas Market Center with the logo at the top of a tall red wall

January is a good time to fly south and check out Lightovation at the Dallas Market Center. The annual event for buyers is focused primarily on showrooms and distributors but integrators are beginning to show up- especially those that also do decorative lighting. I was at Lightovation to share my passion for linear lighting with […]

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Red Light, Green Light

A creek filled with mossy rocks surrounded by ferns and other green leafy plants, shaded by trees with spots of sunlight poking through

A few years ago I heard a simple phrase from a leading lighting researcher: “Light is a drug.” Like most drugs, light causes chemical reactions in our brain and body.  Moods change, biorhythms change, migraines disappear. Wait, migraines? Dr. Mohab Ibrahim, director of the chronic pain clinic at a hospital in Tucson, Arizona, has an […]

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Light Can Help You