The Importance of Purple
I understand that not everyone will agree, or understand what I’m saying here. In fact, as I write this, I’m trying to understand this concept, myself, the importance of purple.
A few years ago, I took a little shopping trip with a friend to one of those sprawling discount malls with all kinds of stores. We were in a shoe store when I found these simple purple Keds, just sneakers… but PURPLE!
By the side-eye she shot at me, she obviously didn’t understand my bliss when I turned to her and asked, “Haven’t you ALWAYS wanted purple shoes?!”
No matter. I happily purchased them. Several years later, I am still tripping over them in my bedroom, faded though they are, and enjoying once again that happy moment that I discovered them.
More recently, after my husband died, I trekked off to Walmart in search of some new sheets for my bed. Cloyde’s big rough feet had worn holes and weak spots in all of my sheets and I thought it would be nice to sleep in something other than pilled rags. Don’t you know, I spied a set of deep purple sheets and triumphantly brought them home to the bed that I now shared only with the dog and cat. Cloyde would have fought the idea of sleeping on such a frou-frou color, as if he could SEE it in the dark! He might have purposely spilled bleach on them, anyway, as he did with all of my deeply and beautifully colored towels.
When you lose a beloved spouse, grief takes many forms, but a resilient person finds joy in small things. You have to create little personal celebrations to keep yourself afloat, and sliding myself between those royal purple sheets at day’s end allowed me a slender smile as I drifted off. Perhaps it was a small act of rebellion for his leaving me, but no, it was actually a tiny desire I could now afford myself without argument.
But why purple? Good question. It seems to be a much maligned color, especially among males. Three thousand years ago the Phoenicians discovered how to make a brilliant purple dye. Difficult and expensive to produce, it became the color of the rich, the royal, and the Church. Even if you could afford it, you still might be punished for the audacity of wearing purple garments.
In Feng Shui, purple is the color of abundance. Proper placement of it in your house or business is supposed to attract abundance to you. I’ve been trying that for some time…. Maybe if I kept the space decluttered it might work better.
Anyway…. I think of PURPLE as the natural SUGAR or HONEY of flavors. You might not want to make it the center of your diet, but every home and yard should be sweetened by a few flashes of it. What is more lovely than purple wisteria hanging from a balcony or purple irises, clematis, or flox dotting your garden, and how about those beautiful Redbud trees (actually purple buds) in April or the Paulownia trees springing up alongside the oaks, maples, and poplars lining the highways?
Enough said. I just wanted to share some joyful purple with you, today. It’s not the only color I like. But keep in mind, brown isn’t really a color. It’s just dirt. Dirt happens often enough. Celebrate life’s ornaments.