Light Summer Poetry

 

 

November 2, 2012

This was true long before I knew I was a Light Summer.

I had my colors analyzed in the 12 Blueprints system and found out I was a Light Summer.  I also discovered that my personality was very much tied to my colors and was truly fascinated by this.   I decided to write out my thoughts about this.  If you are a Light Summer with 12 Blueprints Color Analysis then maybe it will resonate with you too.  I have no doubt that some of my description has to do with my personal style and body type as well, but maybe, at least, some of it is true for all light summers.

Being a light summer feels like choosing colors from a rainbow to wear each day!

Ok...true confessions...it wasn't so much concrete as it was a bunch of metaphors that helped me understand the harmony of the elegance, fun, and sport of light summer with elegance carrying the melody.   I was struggling to wrap my mind around who I was in life as it seemed like several things at once without necessarily being mixed together to become something else...and yet, like music, sounding like one song at the same time.  Our skin tone, rather than becoming lavender, the pink and blue remain separate and in contrast to each other while also complementing each other with a yellow undertone warming everything up as though the sun is rising through a cool dawn mist.

A Light Summer 

Light summer is the serene summer sunrise with a kiss of vibrant spring.  This is calm with some passion and not too serious...a pool of warm clear blue water with small waves and the sun sparkling on tips of the waves of a spraying fountain...a day on a sail boat with sails at full mast on a bright warm day...cool mist in the air on a warm sunny day...the gentle, but playful lap of the clear blue water at the feet of sunbathers on the beach...a butterfly with it's delicate wings and vibrant colors withstanding the strong gals of wind in life...the pale, but still bright color of a cherry or orange sherbet popsicle dripping on a warm summer day while playing in the sprinkler on the lawn...a ballerina dancing to beach or pop music...an attorney wearing pink and grey with her collar unbuttoned...a pageant girl with a shy, but mischievous smile on stage. 

It's the unexpected.

 

Beyond light summer I'm delicate, but strong...like the pastel, but radiant beams of a sunrise piercing the darkness...in clothes that means light-hearted and bright, but hazy colors with specific structure...even if it looks unstructured - it's not messy or sloppy or with no form.

I'm fun with a purpose...everything feels light-hearted, but I know that there is a definite plan and reason for everything...the clothing translation of that would be that it could flutter in the wind, but it's striking and has a very intentional and elegant silhouette.

 

I am serious, but comforting and amiable, which means, in terms of clothes, that I could wear a color that might seem bland such as grey or beige, but will emphasize the texture or give some subliminal attention to the detailed stitching or lace or unique button embellishments...the outline will be definitively feminine.  This is the kiss of spring on summer. 

My desire is to convey a message of elegance and design in everything I do.  As a rose with drops of dew on the petals in the hours of the sunrise just before the full break of day...never a completely matte face, but also not a shiny one...just enough moisture to be considered dewy from the morning mist.

Radiant hair is the best, not because it is over-powering or in your face, but because it accentuates the faint passionate fire mixed with the coolness of a soothing balm beneath my skin.  My hair is golden, light, warm like the sun or caramel or an elegant fur.  It is the accent to the face and eyes like the cherry on top of an ice cream sundae.  It is shiny though not slick.  It's as though the sun were beaming out of it or as if it were a smooth mink coat...soft, soothing, warm...silky.

My eyes reflect the sun, but coupled with the calm and comfort of the mist of a summer day to shield from the sun's full strength.  There is a hint of mischief in the midst of the serenity of the moment.  There is a twinkle of fun and joy in the comfort and calm like the sparkle of the sun on a calm pool of water in a misting fountain.

Light summer is delicate, but strong...elegant, but not fragile...structured, but not rigid...calm, but not boring...striking, but not harsh...vibrant, but not glaringly so...flexible, but stable...creative, but not wandering...soft spoken, but not timid...outgoing, but not brash...sensitive, but not easily offended...warm, but not hot...cool, but not cold...comforting, but not smothering...interdependent, but no more than that...light-hearted, but purposeful...determined, but reasonable...daring, but not too bold...fun with purpose...a level-headed risk-taker...a thoughtful dreamer...a grounded visionary...a quiet champion...a capable leader...a lover of fine art...a creative catalyst. 

 

This is what a light summer sounds like...

 

 

 

 

The beat never feels loud, brash, or out of place, but it is unmistakably present...it's the spring in the step of the summer's light motion...the sparkle on the breeze.  A light summer dances on the very tips of her toes with a spring in her step...it's graceful  and fun.  Her movements are magical as she floats by with a purposeful quickness in her step.  Like a gentle breeze on a warm day, she flutters by almost unnoticed except for the warm caress felt as she passes by.  It's as though she has caressed your heart without you knowing simply by being present.  Her presence is unmistakable with her calm countenance, warm smile, sparkling eyes, and an energy that lingers long after she walks away.  If you could not find your senses to react quickly enough, you may realize she has slipped away without your reaction, but you will know, without a doubt, she was there.   She is mysterious as she fluidly and magically dances through life with a profound purposefulness.  She is captivating and mesmerizing.

 

 

Light summer sparkles in the most graceful way possible...she is the ultimate sophistication and elegance.  She is that china face who is standing straight with twinkling eyes that no one can take their eyes off of and who they never forget.  She makes people feel like they are the most important in the world and collects friends wherever she goes.  She is loyal, discreet, appropriate, and dignified at every turn.  Everything she does is subtle, but extraordinary.  Her life is full of moments and memories that could be captured and set free in poetry, but the number of them is nearly overwhelming and so often lives on in the soul.  This is why she leaves sparkles and sunshine in her wake...she's sharing the beauty of all of the moments and memories that could not be shared in any other way.  She is the tranquil moments, the thought-provoking quiet, the beautiful picture imprinted on the mind forever of sweet innocence so perfectly combined with sophisticated femininity.  She is not ashamed of her womanliness, but rather revels in its quiet power. 

 

 

She is a world of opposites, but not to the extreme...she is much of summer with a hint of spring.  However, light summer is not simply a mixture of two things - she is never the middle, mediocre, or bland...she is a vibrant rainbow after the rain!  She might struggle to take her place among the more flashy, dominant, and overwhelming types in the world.  However, once she knows who she is and settles into that knowledge, she becomes more noticeable and memorable than all the others with her quiet radiance and warm eyes.  A light summer need not stand and shout...no...a rainbow never shouts, but is rarely, if ever, ignored.  She simply stands and shines...and illuminates the hopes and dreams of all in her presence.   

 
A light summer is truly unforgettable 



This is how I see a light summer and the best me...though sometimes I tend to try to be something else, I am most as ease when I'm being a light summer.  Now to live up to such a description.

Some of this post was inspired by Kathryn Kalisz of Sci/ART and 

Christine Scaman's description of a Light Summer on the 12 Blueprints website.

http://www.12blueprints.com/light-summer-ce-and-being-not-pale/



 

Collaborating with Stanford and The Department of Veterans Affairs

November 6, 2012

I was asked by Stanford University and the Department of Veteran's Affairs to participate in a Workshop to create a video that would help educate medical staff, encourage fellow veteran's and raise public awareness.  I was excited, but I really had no idea the profound effect it would have on my life.  

January 14, 2013, the day I returned from the three day Workshop in Palo Alto, CA, I wrote...

There are moments in life that change you forever. This weekend I got together with fellow female veterans at the poly trauma unit of the Veterans Affairs Hospital to work on a project to share our experiences with traumatic brain injuries that we acquired while in the military and how they affected our lives. I was a little apprehensive knowing that what I shared would be going into the Smithsonian National Archives, however, knowing it would also help doctors, medical staff, and the public understand the affects of traumatic brain injuries on woman veterans and encourage fellow traumatic brain injury survivors, I was determined to do it. Something difficult to talk about turned into acceptance, camaraderie, validation...and healing. 

There is no way to describe the bond I felt with my fellow comrades in arms.  We expressed many things, but we had seen so much and didn't have words for it all.  In those spaces where words did not suffice, there was a quiet understanding...a look, a hug, a tearful nod...it said it all.  We had all been there and felt no need to explain it to each other. 

There are so many things that happen to a woman that are different than when they happen to a man when they are injured.  Since all the studies for the affects of  traumatic brain injuries on military personnel had been done on men, the medical staff were often baffled when it came to helping a woman veteran deal with such an injury, which led them to begin a study to find out what the differences are between how men and women cope with this particular trauma.  My three battle buddies and I became the first women to be studied by the Department of Veteran's Affairs for the affects of traumatic brain injuries on female veterans.  I felt incredibly honored and overwhelmed as the press snapped pictures, jotted down statements, and the head of the Poly Trauma Units of Stanford and the Department of Veterans Affairs introduced themselves to us.  The significance of this event began to settle in...we were making history.   However, the lasting impression of the event was the care of the doctors, the beautiful hearts of my fellow veterans, and the impact we made on each other.

For all the tragedy we had seen and been through, we laughed openly, joked around, and had immense fun!  I have to admit that some of the most fun we had during those four days making our videos was actually in the evening when we got to know each other.  We stayed at a "Hometel" on the Department of Veterans Affairs Hospital campus, which was supposed to be a cross between a hotel and hostel, but really they could have just described it as a  converted hospital.  Two of us ended up in one room with a third who also stayed at the Hometel in another room on the other side of the hospital. 

After dinner one evening we headed inside when a police officer appeared and startled me.  I nearly jumped into the bushes.  He looked at me very strange trying to figure out if I was guilty or just crazy!  We all had a good laugh about it.  Later that night we decided that the battle (battle buddy) on the other side of the hall should come to our room to sleep...especially since her leg was in a cast...she needed to have supervision.  My pregnant battle buddy / roommate and I took off for the other hall, told her she needed to get her stuff and hop aboard the hometel (hospital) bed.  As we wheeled her down the hall and around the receptionists desk, I was being the point man and keeping a look out.  Just as I pulled the bed into the hall past the receptionists area, there was the same police officer walking down the hall toward us.  I began to shove the bed that I'd been pulling and began to jump around saying, "Go back, go back."  You would have thought we were under fire in all out war...we laughed hysterically about it later.  The officer stopped and just stared at me once he got around the corner.  I think he was still trying to figure out if I was crazy.  My battle kept a cool head and just kept on pushing the bed toward our room letting him know that we needed to keep her under supervision due to her injury.  He just blinked and then stared at us eventually walking on out the front doors.   

Sharron, Rachel (Me), Nadine in the "Hometel"

Away from the analysis, studies, projects, and the words that would be recorded and archived at the National Smithsonian, we settled in and began to tell the gritty version of our stories, the horrors we
had faced, and the struggles we were still going through.  The knowledge that we were not as alone as we thought we were when we had each struggled in our own ways through our nightmares, was more encouraging than anything else could have been.  Knowing that we had each been through hell and high water (so to speak) and lived to tell about it was suddenly realized as an accomplishment.  So many don't make it back, but we were each better off than we had been and found a gratefulness and joy in that very significant fact.

I will never forget any of them as they left indelible footprints on my heart.  I will never forget the care of the doctors and their humble interaction or the digital story telling facilitator and her patience with our banter or how my battle buddies chose to courageously tell their stories when it was easier to leave them untold ...amazing women gathered together in the name of making a difference in the lives of others.  Truly unforgettable.

 

 

Me, Nadine, Angelina, Dr. Joyce, and Sharron at dinner together the last night.

 

Thank you, Dr. Carmelinda, Dr Joyce, Andrea, Nadine, Sharron, and Angelina, for leaving such beautiful footprints on my life. 

The final version of my digital story from this workshop...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBt1jvGtbK8

 

*See the post "In Her Own Words" on June 29, 2013 for an update