Before and After

The background wall colours in the above photos came out pale (I guess because of depth of field and exposure?) ... but I was feeling too lazy to take them over and get the true hues. Use your imagination to deepen and brighten them and you will see the before and after of my bedroom.

Before (left photo), it was blue (see this post for a truer representation of the hue).

Yesterday two painters painted it pink.

It surprises many people when I say that I'm not good with choosing and combining colours. They say "But you're an artist!" But colours have never been my forte. I just have to go with what feels right. And somehow I felt for pink. When I told friends, etc that I was painting my room pink, their reaction was a shocked (or in some cases, disgusted): "Pink??!!!" And then some would say something like "But that's not you!!!"

Well it's 'not me' (in the traditional sense, seeing that I've always been on the blue-green end of the spectrum) ... but when I looked at the colour charts in the paint shops, I only felt drawn to the pink hues. They felt warm and had a strong, resonant vibration. Of course I decided to go with what I was feeling.

So, this is a first for me. My first ever 'pink' room. Such a change, considering I once hated the colour. It's what I feel now. But will I feel it a month from now?

Let's just say that the colour on the colour chart isn't what ended up on the walls. Is it ever? I had thought it would be a rich, earthy, natural kind of pink, but it's not. How do I describe what now surrounds me? I like to think of it as walking into a huge rose quartz and being embraced by its properties. It's kind of deep and bright and seems to be a different tone every time I look at it. It depends on the lighting in the room at the time. It's a strange pink that I can't quite put my finger on and am not yet accustomed to. Maybe even strawberrry meets dash of blueberry? Not being a colour expert, I don't know how to describe it or what colour curtains and sheets will complement it.

My friend Nisha (who's coming over in a while to see it and give advice on colour combinations) says it takes a week to get used to colour change. I can feel the physical effects of it. Whereas with the blue I was calm (maybe because it was blue and/or because I was accustomed to it), I can actually feel my inner body vibrating for some reason in this pink room.

"Stimulation," according to Nisha.

We'll see what she says when she steps in!

Mon roman français (my French novel)

To know another language is to have a second soul.

- Charlemagne, King of the Franks -
(742-814)
Text on book is backwards because of iPhoto.
*

I bought my new French textbook yesterday for the Level 3A class I'm in now ... and guess what colour it is.

Speaking of 'French' and 'book' ... I am writing a novel (un roman) in French. I am compelled by it and have been working at it steadily since October 23rd when 'it all began to unfold' quite suddenly. It's like I didn't decide to do it. It decided to do me.

I don't know where this will lead, but that is the adventure of it. Writing in another language is interesting because, not being a 'master' of it, I don't have the ability to 'command' it (as with English). It commands me. New parts of my brain and consciousness kick in and I am swept along by a different current.

However, for the past two days I have been what one would ordinarily call 'stuck' ... i.e. I haven't written anything and don't 'know' what to write next. But, given the nature of the novel ... (a) I will not know what to write next until it reveals itself (b) I therefore don't see the moment of not-writing as being 'stuck'.

In a Kundalini yoga class, we follow each posture (where we 'tense' or use the body actively) with a short period of complete relaxation, to allow the energy generated through the preceding action to go where it needs to go in the body and be assimilated.

So ... I'm assimilating the energy of what has been written thus far in mon roman.

Similarly, in life ... if we relax and be patient and trusting in our 'slow' or seemingly 'stuck' and 'unknown' moments ... between periods of active doing and knowing ... instead of worrying about why 'nothing' is happening ... we would flow as and where we are meant to.

When things don't seem to be moving (physically), they still are ... energetically.

Think Pink, Feel Pink, Be Pink

In the pink - two meanings: (i) in very good health (ii) naked
Pink - Romance, love, friendship, femininity, truth, passivity, good will, emotional healing, peace, calming, affection, emotional maturity, caring, nurturing, sweet tasting, sweet smelling, ethereal, delicacy.

Excuse the 'decapitation'.

*

For my whole life I've disliked the colour pink. It was the colour I associated with horrible tasting childhood medicine and clothes I wouldn't want to wear. My colour was blue. However, to my amazement, within the past month or so, pink is the colour I feel most drawn to (more so deep pink). Pink jumps out at me everywhere, no matter how large, small, pale or intense ... and whenever I see it I actually feel something physically - a distinct vibration emanating from it- embracing, surrounding, warm, shimmering, magnetic. I feel like I need to have it near me or around me in some form, to soak it in.

On Saturday my friend Cherrymoka and I ended up in the toy store in Long Circular Mall, looking for Bubbles. All day I had been feeling like I needed to be wearing something pink. So when I spotted this pink garland in the toy store for $8 I purchased it. Having it around my neck felt like wearing the pink vibrations. I wore it home that evening from the toy store, wore it to a meeting on Sunday morning (to discuss the next video job/project I have to do) ... then to HiLo afterwards ... and to teach my yoga class later. (Quite fitting, as we were working on the heart chakra and pink is related to the heart chakra).

I wasn't wearing the garland in order to be noticed, but people noticed it ... and it was interesting observing the varied responses.

At the meeting
The woman I was meeting asked me about the garland. I told her it's my new favourite colour and explained the feeling of the vibrations. She seems like the kind of person who would understand ... and asked me what 'pink' means symbolically. I told her basically pink is Love. No pun intended, but she seemed 'tickled pink' by it all.

At HiLo
A security guard called out to me: "Dahlin, ah like yuh flowers!" I said thank you and went into the supermarket. When I was reaching for a pack of spinach, a little girl nearby was pointing out my garland to her mother and commenting on it - perhaps wanting one too? Then a priest from Mt St Benedict stopped me and started talking, with his eyes on the garland. "Rather bright!" he exclaimed. He stood there speaking about the facets of the garland for a few minutes, ending by saying it was 'Refreshing!' However, several other people (adults) were casting curious glances at me. I guess they were wondering: "Why is she wearing a pink garland in HiLo?"

Why not?

At Yoga
My yoga students loved the garland. One student (who I went to pick up to take to the class) saw it as she got into the car and said: "Oh! How lovely! If only I knew where my multi-coloured one was, I would wear it too!"

She went on to tell me that her favourite colour is turquoise (which happened to be the colour of her yoga bag). Then, just like how I'm feeling about pink, she said it's the first colour that jumps out at her when she sees it amidst other hues, that she feels vibrations coming from it and that for her, it is a colour that fills her soul. "The colour we are drawn to gives us what we need," she said.

What colour are you drawn to?