indigo – Les Mis excerpt (Mabeuf)

JNW’s color of the week is indigo (here) -and let me start by asking you – what is the first hue that comes to mind when you hear the word indigo?

For me, it was blue.

You know, like a blue-ish-kinda-deep-purple (ROYBGIV)

Well it has been fun to learn that there is debate about the amount of purple vs. blue in this color referred to as indigo, which varies for textile, paints, and then spectral colors.

Part A:

And seeing that Paula’s theme is “something that reminds you of your place” –  I had to start with mon terero – looking down at an indigo-violet, Asian themed wine bottle cover –

 

 

This photo shows something else from “my place” –  the wooden and metal figurines I bought at an art festival in 2006- with an indigo filter edit (linked to Thursday Special)

Part B:

I have a Les Mis excerpt for indigo.

It comes at a time in the story when Marius is in a gloomy mood because he has lost connection with Cosette.

Marius used to visit M. Mabeuf, an old man who has been trying really hard to make his fortune by growing indigo; in fact, this man’s enthusiasm and hope in this dye reminds me a lot of the people pitching deals on Shark Tank.

Anyhow, M. Mabeuf is gloomy because he is grieving the death of his good friend, a guy named Royal, who also wanted “to naturalize indigo in France.”

Hugo tells us that Mabeuf was so hopeful that indigo would bring him his fortune he “pawned his copperplates” and to invest even more money, he “reduced his breakfast to two eggs, and he left one of these for his old servant, to whom he had paid no wages for the last fifteen months. And often his breakfast was his only meal.

He no longer smiled with his infantile smile, he had grown morose and no longer received visitors. Marius did well not to dream of going thither. Sometimes, at the hour when M. Mabeuf was on his way to the Jardin des Plantes, the old man and the young man passed each other on the Boulevard de l’Hopital.

They did not speak, and only exchanged a melancholy sign of the head.

A heart-breaking thing it is that there comes a moment when misery looses bonds!

Two men who have been friends become two chance passers-by.

Okay, so this little part in Les Mis catches two characters at a heavy time.  And I want to take that minute to just encourage any of you out there who might feel similar right now.  For example, it is one month into the new year and you might feel like the year is not starting off the way you wanted it to.

Maybe you are sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Maybe your leg is in a cast, you are still waiting for the “right one” -or maybe you feel like Monsieur Mabeuf – where your dream is still being invested in, provisions are lean, and certain losses have left a huge void –  to where the spirit feels like the murkiest and palest shade of indigo.

Well –  wherever you are at in life right now, remember that life’s richest joys are not from things (even though we do need “things” to survive and live and enjoy some days – and need things to prevent parched times, but they never innately satisfy)….

And here is a little bit of wit with therapy boxes:

 

Remember that humor is healing and it is oh so good for the soul. 

Remember that sleep is healing – and many times you are REM sleep deprived without knowing it. 

Remember that your physical body will feel worse if it is not absorbing nutrients – (we are what we “absorb”) and so make it your aim to fortify your physical body in a new way!

Remember that you need more healthy fats.  (And you likely need to do an inner cleanse – esp. if you are feeling like crap all the time)

Remember to start rethinking about sugar and the way it poisons the body – because sugar suppresses your immune system every single time you eat it. (But before you quit sugar, you need to “break” off of it…)  

Remember that your spirit man also needs to be fortified.  And so maybe this is the time that you get serious about going right to God.  Forget all the religion, which is man-made – and go to the source.   I double dog dare you to boldly ask God to show you great and mighty things you do not know.  Today might just be the day for that.

And lastly, remember that it is good to have your opinions and views, but it is also good to have a “teachable spirit.” And so as this first month of a brand new year winds down – why not do a self-awareness check – and just examine if you have become cynical, closed-minded, layered angry, or passive about a few things (cos that is what humans tend to do – so just check for it).

Sometimes it all just starts by dropping your guard.  Softening up – laughing at stupid stuff, and not taking things so serious.  

Come on now, life is short and a goal should be to enjoy it more – and it starts right now. 

Happy Sunday –