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ENCHANTMENT IN AN E-MAIL – NOVEMBER 2000 SPECIAL
EDITION
"Achieving Positive States of Mind and Body Again
and Again"
Produced by Dr. Barbara Becker
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Welcome to the new bi-weekly publication of The Enchanted
Self's e-newsletter! Each month I
will focus on (and respond to) a question about enchantment and/or a reader's
ideas on enchantment.
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Question of the Month
"In this wondrous world of senses, what moves you to a heightened experience?"
Answer
It is often color, as beautifully illustrated by Emily
Doherty in her essay, Prism. The
following is an excerpt from her essay. To
read the full text, go to the following URL: http://www.enchantedself.com/stories.htm#Prism.
I hope that you enjoy her insights and unique ways of
connecting with enchantment.
Prism
By Emily Doherty
I cannot remember a time when I was not seduced by color.
Was it the petunias, perhaps, the firm grip of my father's aging hand as
we climbed the short hill beside our house to browse briefly in the palette of
fuschias and magentas, violets and lavenders blue?
Was it the haphazard piles of velvet upholstery samples tossed invitingly
on the play yard floor of my grandmother's linen closet, beckoning me to cavort
with kings and queens? Or the bright
balls of wool stored in the shiny brass potato chip can awaiting her dedicated
fingers to transform them into rainbow squares for afghans?
Perhaps it was the color words themselves, the tantalizing tongue twirls
of fairy tales and Crayola wrappers: heliotrope, delphinium, vermilion, celadon,
burnt sienna... endless as imagination, they lured me to delight.
I am drawn to the mesmer of color as the musician is to
melody. Song colors my ears; image
colors my soul. I cannot choose a
favorite, like chocolate or vanilla ice cream; life remains incomplete without
all 64 in one box. From the earliest
remembrances of childhood, my favorite few possessions were books with "coloured
plates", a rare find among my mother's vintage novels, and crayons.
I amassed color everywhere: postage stamps, ribbons,
fabric switches, buttons, flower petals, butterflies, marbles, in endless and
varied collections. While my mother
shopped, I crawled invisibly under the tables in the millinery department,
risking spots on my shopping-white gloves and hoping that an elegant bloom or
two, a feather or a bright sequin, had somehow hidden in the pale, plush
carpeting. I traced the paisleys in
oriental rugs, and retraced them as I rubbed my eyes and journeyed through my
very own Arabian Nights to sleep.
Dresses, many ill-fitting and old, hide in the depths of
my closet, appearing as briefly as butterflies in Spring cleaning, and then
carefully return to their hooks and hangers because the loss of their colors
would somehow diminish my being. Like
my relationships, they stay safely in the shadows, each waiting for the vibrant
moment to emerge from its Plastic bag chrysalis when the light changes seasons.
My mother's coral wool dressing gown, my father's tasteful maroon ties,
my daughter's first velvet gown, an unmistakable Evening-In-Paris blue, a length
of bright Marimekko left from my son's window curtain--each has a spot in my
Technicolor memory. Bred on the
still enticing black and white films, a secret part of me breathes a quick sigh
of relief when the movie is in color!
Like my mother, I find myself chasing Tiffany windows in
obscure towns and places, their brilliant tones enveloping me in awed silence as
they did on Sunday mornings long ago. Unable,
to rationalize a splurge on the real thing, I have carefully arranged a pauper's
ransom of colored glasses and bottles on the eastern sill to greet the early
morning light. Drawers burgeon with sheets of wrapping paper too beautiful to be
sacrificed yet to packages; silk scarves spanning the generations lie in neatly
folded piles looking for a more swan-like neck than mine ...
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Please give us the pleasure of sharing your responses.
They may be posted on the web site or in future issues of the newsletter.
You can also chat about this topic or create your own in The Enchanted
Self e-group at the following URL: http://www.egroups.com/groups/encself
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Have an "enchanting" month.
I wish you all many enchanted moments!
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FORWARDING & REPRINTING
(C) 2000 Copyright The Enchanted Self - All rights
reserved.
Please feel free to pass this issue on to someone who
might enjoy it. The Enchanted Self
Newsletter is copyrighted but may be quoted, reprinted, or distributed in whole
or part without prior permission, provided the content is not changed and
attribution is given including:
Dr. Barbara Becker
THE ENCHANTED SELF(R)
We also encourage you to include this material in other
publications, such as self-healing and professional psychology newsletters.
However, we ask that you contact us beforehand for permission and send us a
sample issue.
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To learn more about THE ENCHANTED SELF(R) - A State of
Well Being, Joy, and Happiness, please contact me or visit my web site.
phone:
877-B-JOYFUL
fax:
732-531-1201
e-mail:
encself@aol.com
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