True Colors

Crayons © Gingerme from Flickr.com

 Many times, you will discover nuggets of very interesting truths in everyday conversations, especially with your children if you learn to listen closely.

Our daughter had attended an event for a college classmate recently and got to catch up with friends there. Some of them did not recognize her, as she had matured from the casual, unmotivated, student into a polished, slender, more purposeful young woman.

She called me the following morning, and talked about how much fun it was to share the vision for her new custom dressmaking business with her peers. We talked about how much she had changed in a couple of short years, and I commented that it wasn’t so much a change as it was the process of her growing into her real self, much like a caterpillar morphing into a butterfly. Leslie agreed, and offered her own analogy of a snake shedding its skin. She added that when molting occurs, the colors of the skin transform from dull to rich, because the true colors become brightly visible. I know, it’s a strange analogy, a fashion debutante comparing herself to a snake, but that is a hallmark of her wonderful ability to think outside the box.

I think she was delighted to see these events in her life not so much as a change from “bad” teen/college student to good, but rather a peeling back of the layers to reveal her real self, to see the real treasure within. It was equally gratifying for me to see her recognize that she has always had talents and attributes that hold tremendous promise and possibility, which she did not always see or believe when she was a teen struggling to find herself and her place.

Inevitably, the words “true colors” in our conversation triggered the record player in my head, the needle dropped onto the 1980’s single by Cyndi Lauper, and I started singing along to Leslie:

I’ll see your true colors,
Shining through
I see your true colors
And that’s why I love you,
So don’t be afraid to let them show,
Your true colors,
Your true colors
Are beautiful like a rainbow

It wasn’t sung beautifully, but it was sung with lots and lots of love and shared laughter. This is just one of those moments that make all those difficult years so worthwhile.

Hang on, dear parents, and continue to put one foot in front of the other, and be the parent your kids need you to be as they make their way through the different and sometimes difficult stages of their lives. Listen well to them, as they have much to share.

Remember, too, that we each continue to grow into our true selves, that it is not just the children who are peeling back layers.

Where are you in your metamorphosis, and are your true colors shining brightly today?