Purple.
Not only is it my favorite color, but also I just like the way it sounds coming out of my mouth.
PurPle.
Purrpull …
Two of the qualities the color purple symbolizes are spirituality and creativity.
Most people who know me would be surprised to know what a chatterbox I can be.
Around others, I am usually most comfortable staying relatively quiet, lost in my own dreams and imagination.
It takes a good degree of comfort before they start seeing the silly me, the one who randomly speaks words or phrases in the spur of the moment.
Actually, I drive my family crazy with it.
I have been on the receiving end of more dirty looks and “how old are you’s?” throughout my life than I care to admit, because of it.
And yet, I am sure enough of myself and who I am I don’t let that stop me. I just keep right on doing it.
It does not matter what my chronological age is. The soul and spirit are ageless. I imagine I will probably still be doing this when I am 80, if I am lucky enough to get there.
Here’s an example, and I think many will relate to this.
Dogs. Or cats. But mostly dogs.
They just have this way about them where you give them like a thousand different names other than the one you named them when you got them.
I’ll be going about my day with Zeke sleeping on the couch, and all of a sudden, some strange combination of words will come to mind to call him, and before I can stop them, they come out of my mouth.
I do this so often, I’m kind of surprised he still remembers his given name is Zeke. At this point, he is so used to me saying things as they come to mind, he doesn’t even notice anymore. He just goes right on sleeping, and probably dreaming of eating.
While members of my family might see me as being unnecessarily annoying and childish, I am simply expressing part of my personality through random words.
I couldn’t stop myself if I wanted to.
And if I was for some reason forced to be mute, my spirit would die along with it.
I sometimes shock people who only know the quieter me when I spontaneously break out in boisterous laughter. I have been told on more than one occasion by people I know and people I don’t know, they love my laugh.
To be honest, I love my laugh too. Not only because it feels good, but because it heals me, and I believe the sound of laughter can heal others as well. It is contagious. There have been far too many periods in my life when I couldn’t laugh, I was so buried in the darkness of depression.
To be able to freely laugh again, and to randomly speak aloud silly words and phrases, means the light has come back on inside my heart and soul.
For me, these things mean that I am fully alive, expressing my unique joyful and playful spirit.
I remember one time when I was walking, the word “color” randomly came to mind, out of nowhere. It was at a time when I was under much stress, and my life had become rather bland. Gray.
Even though it is one of those things you could easily ignore and move on, I have never forgotten that moment, and it happened more than 20 years ago.
I took that word to mean, and I still do, that one of my life’s purposes is to bring color to my life and the world around me, in whatever way I can.
To live a colorful life.
A creative, spiritual life.
A purple life.
- SPIRIT MATTERS is a weekly column that examines spirituality. Contact Jerrilyn Zavada at jzblue33@yahoo.com to share how you engage your spirit in your life and community.