What's on the Inside?

Insides can be radically different in nuts and in people.

As inspiration for a recent doodle,
I thought about a personal observation of mine about how insides can be so unexpectedly lovely, even when outsides would not indicate. Isn't it so lovely when a person's insides can shine outwardly and be an unexpected beautiful addition to life for us all?

My Hubba-hubby and I were walking the shore recently and we came across an amazing find: an upturned shell in my husbands path, and one neither of us, in all our years of living along shorelines in the U.S. Coast Guard, had ever encountered. The formation on the back of the shell was intricate and detailed. When Hubba-hubby picked it up and flipped it over, we had never seen such a stunning turquoise color on any shelled creature of that shape.

We packed the treasure home, and I began 'Googling' to identify it. Not a trilobite, not a scarab. Smaller than a crab, but maybe still in the family of a helmet or horseshoe crab?

Another online poster, also seeking identification, mentioned the 'hidden beauty' within this animal, which would never be revealed until the creature's passing into the great beyond.

Turns out, thanks to my friend Wendy, that the mystery creature who owned the shell is called a chiton. Thank you, dear chiton, for your life and for making your stunning shell for us to witness. Thank you, dear seabird who likely ate the chiton, for leaving behind the shell which we now look at and admire in our home.

That got me thinking about other things that have amazing insides, like chiton and people. That's where the inspiration for the pistachios in today's doodle came from. Pistachio happens to be my favorite ice cream. And, I've always loved their shade of green. And, we are in the week of green, after all, in many places in the world, we are preparing to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. I also added shelled pistachios to my salad last night, and I saw a gorgeous rainbow yesterday, one with ALL of the colors visible. Hello, Mr. ROY B. BIV.

You see how my brain works.

Below, I'm sharing with you a picture of the chiton that we found, and the rainbow that we saw. Now, here are some of the exquisite lyrics of Cyndi Lauper's song, "True Colors" for you. I hope you take them into your heart today.

'I 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
are beautiful, like a rainbow'

- written by Billy Steinberg & Tom Kelly

Email me and let me know how this speaks to you. Bonus points if you can tell me the meaning of ROY G. BIV. Not on my email list? Join me here.

Love and Doodles, Diana

Categories: : Artistic Journey, Life Exploration