Inspiration pops up in the oddest places. I just discovered a new-to-me color: International Klein Blue (aka IKB).
Picture velvety, seemingly bottomless depths of pure ultramarine.
It’s rich. Enigmatic. Alluring.
This pigment, chemically innovative from its beginnings, can appear to hover — as if breathing just above a surface.
Think about Genesis: the Spirit brooding over the waters.
And how “inspiration” also defines a life-giving inhale . . .
This earthly hue was first mixed into existence, midcentury, by French artist Yves Klein.
Some say he wanted to “represent the transcendent.”
A life inspiration!
In three words, how would I phrase mine? Turns out, I needed three tries.
Make things beautiful.
Listen, with love.
Repair via prayer.
Yves Klein, at nineteen, went for a walk on the beach and chose the sky as his territory.
At seventy-three, I need a smaller canvas.
When I was seven (the year Yves patented IKB), my parents packed our belongings. We moved to a bigger house, two blocks down the street.
Thanks to my mother’s passion and daring, we were soon entering our new home through a blue “statement” door — vibrant turquoise, to be exact.
Might as well have been neon. Strangers stared; neighbors shielded their eyes and pointed.
SO embarrassing.
How did I miss glimpsing the transcendent beyond when I swung open that blue blue door?
Now I want to say, “Brava, Mom!”
Friends, how will we color everyday life for those we love in ways that will hover — still vaguely present perhaps, even after we’re gone?
What if this year, no matter our age or resources, we pursue fresh inspiration with the best of our lives?
I’ll be wearing blue, of course.
Inspiration — wherever we find it, however it finds us — is pure gift. Anyone game to try wrapping three words around it?
I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear about it . . .
Read more about Yves Klein and see his famous color here:
You might like this, from the archives: Benediction in Blue
Man with Umbrella Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash
P.S. House of 49 Doors: Entries in a Life (yes, it’s the house with the turquoise door) is now typeset. Hurray!
