I can’t get over the shade of blue that fills this pool beside my bungalow. It’s the most perfect color, made only more perfect as it ripples like textured glass beside the most vibrant flowers catching the sun in their most perfect shade of hot pink. (The photos DO NOT do it justice…not even close).
The colors in the world around me are perfect. I’m sensitive to color. Sometimes, I’m amazed by the contentment I sit in as I stare into a color. I feel joy when I stare into the tropical colors, the ones that come out to play in warm places. As a teenager, I decorated my bedroom with these colors, packing them in on top of each other in thick layers. I surrounded myself with a rainbow while the world outside my window was mainly forest green and grey blue. A child of the Pacific Northwest, I grew up on fresh air and pure water. Health and adventure was in the air outside and dreams of turquoise blue, sunshine orange and hot pink flowers filled me on this inside.
I was sixteen the first time I laid eyes on the tropical world. (Pictures hadn’t done it justice either.) I stepped off the airplane in Hawaii (which granted is sub-tropics but still more tropical than rural Seattle), and inhaled the plumeria air. I was sold for what seems to be life. Driving on a freeway through jungled mountains, I fell in love. I never wanted to leave. The thought of my limited time on the island was too cruel to think. I promised myself I would come back. I prayed I’d find a way to live amongst the most beautiful colors for longer than just a two week vacation. Just because I grew up in a grey cloud didn’t mean I had to stay there forever. I prayed the volcanic islands would welcome me and let me feel at home amongst them. I have many more volcanic islands to explore. For now, at this for this summer, Bali has me hooked. Life is gentle here.
Morning is usually my favorite time of day, it always has been. After my long walk, jumping jacks and downward dogs, I take my Kindle to the pool. I float in water and try to describe in worlds the ecstasy I feel when my body is submerged in water. Today, I’d describe it as Jell-O. I’m swimming through light blue Jell-O. What a divine and funny sensation!
This turquoise blue Jell-O holds me suspended. I let my limbs dangle below me, limp. How heavy can I be in water? No matter how much I let go, I still float. I hold me breath and imagine I’m inside my mother’s womb. This is probably exactly how it felt. With water in my ears, the rest of the world out there is out there. I’m weightless and worry-less, surrendered and held. This is delicious medicine.
And did I mention the color? I rest my eyes on this turquoise water and whatever was troubling me before evaporates. I’m just here absorbing a daily dose of tropical color therapy. I wait until my mind is quiet and my body is glowing warmth from within. I eat a couple eggs and a fruit salad. I walk into my bungalow, sit at my desk, and begin my work. Today, I continue writing this fantasy novel. Perhaps, I’ll make the ocean turned the perfect shade of turquoise.
Love & Rainbows,
Cha 🍍 Wilde