I sat at my desk not quite sure what to do, though I had a long To-Do list. I gazed out of my window to the bright sunny street and thought of my cat Sheba who, so ill, had to be put to sleep one week ago today. She would often sit on the window sill looking out at the street and many times ventured out to explore.
I miss her.
My gaze drifted down from the window to the plant sitting on the cabinet. It is a teacup orchid that was an impulse purchase of mine. It had a beautiful bloom when I bought it but in the year and a half since it has never bloomed again. It is, however, a very healthy looking plant. The leaves are a vibrant green and I as I gazed at it I considered the meaning of the color green.
Though I don't know who determines such things I have heard and read over and over that the color green stands for healing. I could use some healing. I wonder, do you feel that sometimes? Maybe you need physical healing, maybe emotional or mental healing. As I continued to look at the orchid I thought about how I could take the symbol of the plant to bring about healing.
Scientists long ago, I have discovered, determined that part of the reason nature is so healing for us is because of its recurring patterns. My orchid, for example, has the same number of leaves on both sides of the stalk making it quite symmetrical. Spending time in nature has a very calming influence partly because of its recurring patterns. Just looking at the orchid or any other plant also has that effect. If you can't get out to nature for healing, bring a plant or two to you. Nature is a good place to start healing no matter the type of healing required.
A calming influence is good, right? Yet it's not something that you can rub on a sore back, or swallow for an upset stomach, so something else must be at work and benefitting us.
The color green, so often found in nature, is also considered a balancing color. It is in the middle of the visible color spectrum balancing the cool (blue, purple, indigo) and warm (red, orange, yellow) colors surrounding it. The healing that green brings is balance and it is balance that brings you peace.
Who would argue against feeling at peace? Funny thing though, you still can't ingest it or massage it into your bad knee to get its benefits, so what good is it really? The answer is that the healing brought about when you are at peace happens from the inside out. The pain may be on the outside, that is the physical, but the healing will come from within.
Move your thoughts away from how much pain you feel and toward that thing that helps you feel peaceful or has a calming influence. It could be a plant, a pet, a poem or a song. Then extend that moment for as long as possible. You will shift the balance in your body and quiet the pain you feel.
I miss my Sheba, but I'm at peace with her passing. There is no strife or angst that can make anything different. When you let go of the need for things to be different you open a space for peace to enter.