Welcome to the musings of a 17 [almost 18] year old girl.
I graduated 3 days ago and as I walked up the stairs to my seat I looked at my dear little Ally B and felt a pang of heartsickness. She is heading to SUU in the fall, and I'm staying right here in Happy Valley. I realized how scary it is not to know what will be going on with some of my best friends as I head to school and they either stay here or head to someplace new. So, for all of my friends who I may not see for a while, this is for you. Who knows what this will end up being or how often I will even post, but here it is.
I figure I better explain why I'm calling this blog "A Life of Purple." Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, my musical theater class put on a showcase for our final project. It was an absolutely heart-wrenching and beautiful experience. The last song we, as a little family, sang together is called "The Color Purple."
Dear God, dear stars, dear trees, dear sky,
Dear peoples, dear everything, dear God.
God is inside me and everyone else
That was or ever will be.
I came into this world with God
And when I finally looked inside, I found it,
Just as close as my breath is to me.
Rising, rising, rising like the sun
Is the hope that sets us free.
Your heartbeat make my heart beat
When we share love.
Like a blade of corn, like a honeybee,
Like a waterfall, all a part of me.
Like the color purple,
Where do it come from?
Now my eyes are open,
Look what God has done.
It take a grain of love
To make a mighty tree.
Even the smallest voice
Can make a harmony.
Like a drop of water
Keep the river high.
There are miracles
For you and I.
I don't think us feel old at all.
I think this is the youngest us ever felt.
Amen.
This song has grown to have so much more meaning than anyone outside of the class will ever know. Reason #1) I find it so fitting that the last word I ever said on the stage that was my home for the past three years was "Amen." I was able to end the prayer I began with Peter Pan with a prayer from the very bottom of my heart. Reason #2) It is happening more and more often as I continue to look closely at the people that surround me, but during Les Mis I learned that I can see God in the faces of every single person that walks this earth, and it's especially easy to see in the people you love the most. "God is inside me and everyone else." The people I was on stage with are the ones I have seen my Heavenly Father in the very most often. Reason #3) I got to hold one of my very best friend's hand while she sang this song to me. Mal is one of the people I will miss the very most and I think she will be the one I will have the hardest time leaving.
One of the final days of class before we performed, J talked to us about the true meaning of the color purple. This is what the color purple now means to me:
Purple is one of the most unique and precious colors in this world. And in our lives, purple is found only when we share a piece of hearts and selves with the people that surround us. When we are able to share ourselves and work toward something bigger than ourselves, we create purple. It cannot be created by only one person and there has to be selfless love and service mutually given. Our musical theater class was able to create purple in the projects we put together. And I've never had a more wonderful strengthening or learning experience in my life. It's a beautiful feeling.
And now, as I move on and find new family and friends to create these experiences with, I hope to find ways to live my life with as much purple in it as is humanly possible. A life of rewarding experiences and relationships, a life of true love, a life of joy. A life of purple.
