I wonder what speaks to your soul?
Red and yellow roses with blue irises sit in a white vase on the table where I am writing. Roses have for so long been a symbol of love, ‘red roses for your valentine’, but roses also have thorns hidden below the rim of the vase, concealed in the green leaves. How often is our own pain, or the pain of others, hidden below the surface? We see the soft petals but, sometimes, as we delve into the depths, the thorns are waiting.
The irises have opened their petals to reveal the hidden light of their yellow hearts and I wonder too how we often only see what is on the outside when the true beauty is within.
My soul seeking is about going below the surface, being curious about what lies within, what is unseen, whether that is light or pain. Our eyes are drawn to the external, to colour, texture and form but how do we develop that eye for the internal, an ear that hears the secrets hidden under the protective shell? Flowers don’t immediately reveal all to us, but hold their secrets until patience is rewarded, petals unfurl and we see what lies within – the green heart of the snowdrop, the yellow eyes of the iris, waving stamens holding nourishing nectar, or the thorns that prick us so we bleed.
On my wall hangs a painting I did a few years ago. I am no professional painter but I keep on exploring, playing, beginning again. The relatively abstract image was inspired by a memory of a Moroccan orchard where the apple blossom tumbled onto blue irises flowering below. The painting looks like a tapestry of blues and greens, splashes of blue irises and white blossom scattered like fairy lights. I remember the joy of this painting, the sense of freedom as I played in paint, spreading, splashing, spoldging! It is as if my soul said ‘Yes, I recognise this.’
When my soul meets music, art or the beauty of nature and I pause, then something expands within me, as if my whole being reaches out to absorb what is before me. It may be a song that echoes my soul’s longing for authenticity, truth, justice or rebellion. It may be a painting, sculpture or other work of art that brings a different perspective to my soul; it may be a word, phrase or character in a book that my soul recognises; it may be birdsong or a garden in Spring. I feel the same, almost out-of-body sensation, when I communicate deeply with another, soul to soul. It is as if the boundary between I and You dissolves until there is only a deep connection. It is then that the truth of beauty, and pain, is shared.
At that moment I know I must pause and delve below the surface with patience and curiosity.
I wonder what speaks to your soul? What music do you go back to again and again? Which books or characters reflect your soul’s desires? Delve deeper and ask yourself why….