Friday, February 4, 2005

What Baby Suggs taught me

Baby Suggs is a character in the novel Beloved by Toni Morrison. After a particular hurt she experienced in the world she took to being bed ridden and the comtemplation of the color pink (I think it was pink) in her bed quilt was one of the few things that held her attention and focus.  Years ago I never understood what the significance of that was suppose to be, but if I can infer my own recent understanding of this from my personal experiences, I can say I understand now.



It seems to me that social ills have always been with us and will continue to be with us and the intensity of those ills will rise and fall, but will always be with us and will remain yo-yos with political strings, always. During the course of the day while I'm at work there are times I hear Marvin Gaye singing real low in my inner ear, 'makes me wanna holler and throw up both my hands'. That is a cue for me to go to lunch, take a break and run to the nearest quilt shop and just bask in the color.  Thankfully I have 2 shops close to my work place.  Even when I don't have a bone to spend just going there and running my eyes over the lines of color until something catches my eye and for a few seconds of meditation all seems in order and right with the world.  I can breath and the social and political schizophrenic life of the world seem insignificant and sometimes laughable.



I've also taken to carrying a few of the fabric postcards in my purse...talismans.  Just seeing them when I'm rummaging through the bottom of my bag for change reminds me that no amount of daily grind can take my salt from me because there is something inside so strong. (referencing the previous entry about my musical tastes) 



So it is the comtemplation of color that can be what one needs to sustain oneself in spite of what spins around us. That is what Baby Suggs taught me.



1 comment:

  1. (Sigh). You remind me that it's high time for me to re-read Beloved. It's been years. But yes, the color is pink. Because remember? --- Baby Suggs even appeased herself by looking at other people's tongues. I admire your deep, deep connection to color. I love that you are so passionate about quilting --- I love that it heals something in you, renews you, energizes you. That is enviable, because few people can find such wholesome and pure things to love so. Anyway, one of my favorite bloggers (http://misterstandfast.blogspot.com/) has a post dated June 5, 2004 that you might want to check out. In this post he talks about how he decides to choose a color --- a long overlooked color --- and be intentional about finding it throughout the day, meditating on it and thanking God for it. I thought this was such a great exercise! But I imagine you have a much greater appreciation of color than so many of us. Are there truly any colors that you overlook? Anyway, this blogger guy one day focused on the color Apricot. Then another day the color silver. And so on. I need to try that sometime when I'm slightly less lazy. I truly enjoyed this post. Thank you...
    Michele

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