Ah, Sweet Memories - Part One

Written by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein


Continued from page 1

"Right brain...left brain..." One for words, one for images, and I, ever easily aroused and enraptured by both. Which brain was mine, I mused? Yet another hole too round for my perennially square peg. Images. Color. Why choose?

I cannot remember a time when I was not seduced by color. Was itrepparttar petunias, perhaps,repparttar 126265 firm grip of my father's aging hand as we climbedrepparttar 126266 short hill beside our house to browse briefly inrepparttar 126267 palette of fuschias and magentas, violets and lavenders blue? Was itrepparttar 126268 haphazard piles of velvet upholstery samples tossed invitingly onrepparttar 126269 play yard floor of my grandmother's linen closet, beckoning me to cavort with kings and queens? Orrepparttar 126270 bright balls of wool stored inrepparttar 126271 shiny brass potato chip can awaiting her dedicated fingers to transform them into rainbow squares for afghans? Perhaps it wasrepparttar 126272 color words themselves,repparttar 126273 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 torepparttar 126274 mesmer of color asrepparttar 126275 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. Fromrepparttar 126276 earliest remembrances of childhood, my favorite few possessions were books with "colored 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 underrepparttar 126277 tables inrepparttar 126278 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 inrepparttar 126279 pale, plush carpeting. I tracedrepparttar 126280 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 inrepparttar 126281 depths of my closet, appearing as briefly as butterflies in Spring cleaning, and then carefully return to their hooks and hangers becauserepparttar 126282 loss of their colors would somehow diminish my being. Like my relationships, they stay safely inrepparttar 126283 shadows, each waiting forrepparttar 126284 vibrant moment to emerge from its Plastic bag chrysalis whenrepparttar 126285 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 onrepparttar 126286 still enticing black and white films, a secret part of me breathes a quick sigh of relief whenrepparttar 126287 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 onrepparttar 126288 real thing, I have carefully arranged a pauper's ransom of colored glasses and bottles onrepparttar 126289 eastern sill to greetrepparttar 126290 early morning light. Drawers burgeon with sheets of wrapping paper too beautiful to be sacrificed yet to packages; silk scarves spanningrepparttar 126291 generations lie in neatly folded piles looking for a more swan-like neck than mine.

Yes, it is I, screeching to a stop in front of summer's roadside stands—surely there is a friend who will delight inrepparttar 126292 medley of marigold yellows and cosmos magentas as much as I. Only a woman committed to keeping all 64 colors in a single, dog-eared yellow box would buy flowers instead of cucumbers for dinner, would count Provencal sunflowers instead of sheep on a sleepless night. There is not a jelly glass (see how that one looks blue inrepparttar 126293 afternoon light!) too dusty forrepparttar 126294 optimistic crimson ofrepparttar 126295 last November rosebud, nor a moment too full to wonder atrepparttar 126296 purpling miracle of sunset, where, at last, one might search betweenrepparttar 126297 gilded folds of cloud and finally capturerepparttar 126298 elusive sky-blue pink.

"Color", continued this morning's speaker, "frolicked likerepparttar 126299 child atrepparttar 126300 edge ofrepparttar 126301 sand" inrepparttar 126302 chosen artist's works. In color liesrepparttar 126303 kaleidoscope of my life,repparttar 126304 fire opal of my imagination, andrepparttar 126305 palette of my memories and dreams. It isrepparttar 126306 prism of my soul, illuminatingrepparttar 126307 depths andrepparttar 126308 dark.

Dr. Holstein is the originator of The Enchanted Self and a psychologist since 1981. She is the author of two books: The Enchanted Self, A Positive Therapy and Recipes for Enchantment, The Secret Ingredient is YOU! Dr. Holstein speaks on radio, and appears on television in NY and NJ. She gives lectures, seminars, retreats and audio interviews on LadybugLive.com and is in private practice in Long Branch, NJ with her husband, Dr. Russell Holstein.


A TASTE OF ENCHANTMENT - Accessing Wonderful Memories

Written by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein


Continued from page 1

There is pleasure and new chances to bring joy into your life in reviewing your life fromrepparttar perspective of looking for happy memories. For example, you may remember enjoying archery when you were a child at day camp. Perhaps you loved being out inrepparttar 126264 field and basking inrepparttar 126265 sun. Actually you were not interested inrepparttar 126266 archery so much as a chance to have free time, and socialize and joke with your friends. Your best friend may also have loved archery, but she loved it for different reasons. She was determined to become a champion and winrepparttar 126267 blue ribbon atrepparttar 126268 end ofrepparttar 126269 season. Her intentions and experiences of pleasure were very different from yours.

Now when you brainstorm ways to bring more joy into your life, you might pick sitting at a park or spending time walkingrepparttar 126270 boardwalk, or planning more time with friends. Meanwhile, your friend might decide to take tennis lessons and become a competitive player. These are certainly different roads to pleasure and joy.

Exercise: For enchantment starters try listing three things you enjoyed doing as a child. How could you find ways to do them again or what else could you try as an adult that might be similar? I hope you have enjoyed this taste of enchantment.



Dr. Holstein is the originator of The Enchanted Self and a psychologist since 1981. She is the author of two books: The Enchanted Self, A Positive Therapy and Recipes for Enchantment, The Secret Ingredient is YOU! Dr. Holstein speaks on radio, and appears on television in NY and NJ. She gives lectures, seminars, retreats and audio interviews on LadybugLive.com and is in private practice in Long Branch, NJ with her husband, Dr. Russell Holstein.


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