Wednesday Wish (73); Color Your Colors

photo by spanky via flickr

It was just a simple piece of paper. White with clean edges. And she put one on each of our desks. A few asked what it was for. Me, I just looked at it. Was there invisible ink or a message hidden somewhere in the smooth white cream? I touched it, ran my fingers over its silky sheen. I couldn’t be sure.

She went to the front of the classroom, put the needle on the record and let the music begin.

“Now class, let the music find its way into your body. Imagine it as a wisp of smoke seeping into your skin. Feel it enter you like sunshine or a gust of cool wind. And when it's found its way, then let it swirl around inside. Let it touch that place behind your heart and above your belly. Let it bubble and twirl and sing its tune so that every place inside of you, feels it, tastes it, senses it with juicy flavor. And then…when you are ready, pick up your colors and let your fingers show you what your body feels. Let your fingers show you what you feel…”

I know I blinked. And stared. At my teacher and the white paper staring back at me, now big and empty. I wondered if I understood her correctly. What my body feels?

The wood chair.

The straps of my sandals.

And maybe I’m a little hungry. Lunch is almost here. Isn’t it?

But the music?

How it feels in my…body?

I looked around and saw my classmates already busy drawing. I was sure Tom was drawing a car. He loved cars. And Sally? She was probably drawing a horse. She never drew anything else. But me? Maybe a flower? Or a butterfly? Or a tree with a swing? I picked up a color…

…but then…

I saw some movement at the front of the class.

Her eyes were closed and her body was swaying. She moved with the music. And not just her head or her arms, but her entire body. Her shoulders went up and down in slow motion, her hips moved her in ways I had never seen before, and her face had turned gentle, soft, happy. She was almost floating. Her whole body had become a smile.

So I smiled, too. And that day, learned to feel. Not just music, but my body as I had never felt it before.

No flowers or butterflies or even a tree with a coveted swing,

But swirls and twirls and colors of emotion,

Spikes and dips and swashes of light.

And a little girl with a world full of feeling

Suddenly at her fingertips,

A blank canvas ready to be painted with the colors of her soul….

My Wish For You?

Much like Mrs. Werder taught me in third grade, life is a blank canvas, smooth and creamy, untouched and fertile, waiting for the color we choose to give it. My wish this week is that you let your feelings and emotions guide the color in your life, that you let your heart, your soul, your inside Self, show your brush the way. The head has a place. Yes, we all know it does. But not here. Not this week. This week it's best to tuck your mind in your pocket and to let it simply watch as your feelings color your world … beautiful.