The Color Purple

A new post in the series - Reminders to self

Ok, so it should be The Colour Lavender, actually. But is that all you see?

Source

What does this picture tell you?

To me, it speaks of a delicate and fragrant beauty that is so often missed or neglected in the daily rush-rush of life. It speaks of that slow and gentle pace of life that is generally pushed over by the craze for satisfying a few more material or not-so-material desires.

It also speaks of a forgotten innocent passion which used to see deep value in searching for a matching ribbon to tie together a bunch of flowers. Where has it gone? Disappeared? In that rush to attend one more important meeting to attend, why waste time looking for a lavender ribbon? Just shove the flowers aside and go on with that skype call. 

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The colour lavender, like the flower, is generally known to induce calmness, rest, tranquility, healing.
Sri Aurobindo has somewhere mentioned that the colour purple is generally symbolic of the vital force. (The vital here refers to the life faculty or that part of the being which is not simply the life-force but also the force of various passions, desires, feelings, emotions, compulsions, preferences and likes and dislikes that strongly determine human motivation and action through desire and enthusiasm.) The colour lavender, a variant of purple, according to him, could generally symbolize higher vital or emotional vital, and lavender blue, in particular, could symbolize love and devotion, the qualities associated with the emotional and higher vital parts of the being. 

As I contemplate on the symbolic meaning of the colour lavender together with this picture of lavender flowers, a part of me feels rested and calm already. It may seem small, but a deliberate, tender and conscious action of looking for that matching lavender ribbon to give that gentle finishing touch to a bunch of lavender flowers is surely an act of love. Love for Flowers, love for Mother Nature, love for Beauty. And love heals, brings serenity, induces calmness.

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In my garden in my previous home, I had a few lavender bushes. And every year when the flowers bloomed, my heart would be filled with their beauty and fragrance. This is one plant I surely miss in my present garden. But I do have some lavender-pinkish Bougainvillea growing quite nicely. Next time I bring a few of those blossoming stems inside the home, I hope I remember to look for a matching ribbon!

Previous posts in this series:

Which is Sweeter?          The Stuff of Our Lives          Light an Incense         God is At Home....