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Lyn Fairchild Hawks

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There Was a Reason Prince Was Purple

Lyn Hawks · July 10, 2016 · 2 Comments

His Purple Highness, the Prince we all loved, rocked a color that is neither red nor blue. It’s more than a royal shade; it’s the perfect blend that holds all things. Masculine and feminine; hot and cool. Two distinct identities in a loving embrace.

I had my own purple moment these last few days as I wended my way through the health care system.

Last week I saw a doctor who ordered a CT scan. Before she did, I told her what my acupuncturist noted when she treated me. “I may have gall bladder issues,” I said to the doctor. “I have these sore points on my legs.” I indicated where they were.

My doctor nodded and said with wonderful diplomacy, “I think it’s great you seek alternative therapies. Myself, I need visuals and data. So I’d like to run some tests to rule out some things.” Seeing her acceptance of East while she did West, well–it was a violet moment for me. Purple

Today I saw my acupuncturist, CT results in hand. Those results didn’t give an “impression” as the radiologist says, of gall bladder issues, but some other possibilities, maybe colitis. She gave the data careful consideration, then placed needles accordingly across my body. I could feel, from the moment the fine, wavering needles touched my skin, instant tingling and energy swirling. I soon slipped into a restful, half-aware state, as only acupuncture can do for me. I’ve tried regular massage, but I never zone out. Only the needles can work mauve magic. I left the session without a rod of stone-like muscle frozen in my back. I left looser, calmer, happier. Mauve, you might say.

This week I hear from my doctor about next steps, Western style, based on the result of the CT. I will probably see a specialist and work in concert with that person and my acupuncturist. I’ve already begun seeking answers to the most lavender of all questions–what’s a good diet while I learn more about what’s wrong? Because we must live in the in between, right?

If you’re not one to flex with the overreaching metaphor, let me make it plain: Prince, medicine, politics, and so many things, are best handled with lots of purple.

As I write the next draft of Minerva’s story, under the wonderful eye of my agent, Amy Tipton, I am listening to the voice of a teen who declares herself “beyond labels.” Is she gay or is she straight, or is she something kind of periwinkle? Or does she really, truly, have to declare a color?

“Plum,” my mother-in-law would say, as they say in Mount Airy (AKA Mayberry). “Plum pretty.”

In these next weeks of writing, in these next weeks of political conventions, in these tearful and lamenting weeks of violent conflict in our streets, I pray we all bow to the most royal of colors and see the compromise, empathy, humanity, dare I say, mixed blood in all our souls.

I’ll turn back to Prince to set us all on the lovely purple path.

Honey I know, I know, I know times are changing
It’s time we all reach out for something new
That means you too
You say you want a leader
But you can’t seem to make up your mind
I think you better close it
And let me guide you to the purple rain

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: How Minerva Mae Christopoulos Set the Record Straight, LGBT, LGBTIQ, medicine, Minerva, Minerva Mae Christopoulos, Prince, Prince, purple, YA

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Comments

  1. Steve fairchild says

    July 11, 2016 at 10:10 am

    Lyn,

    This is a wonderful , relevant piece. Too bad our current politicians won’t follow the guidance contained in these words.

    Dad

    Reply
    • Lyn Hawks says

      July 12, 2016 at 12:08 am

      Thanks! From what I see out in our fraught and fragmented world, we need a lot more understanding of the purple kind.

      Reply

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Could I live without words, writing, story? Probably not. I love telling stories. I love teaching stories. I love helping other people find theirs. That’s my story. [READ MORE...]

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It’s so wild to read this developing news when I It’s so wild to read this developing news when I knew in my gut back in 2012 and 2013 that something toxic this way comes… In other words, the relatively new obsession back then with phones was not only toxic to teen mental health, but also dramatically altered my conversations and daily interactions. I remember being made fun of because I didn’t have an iPhone in 2016. In my most recent young adult novel, Minerva struggles to keep up with social media, and feels horribly inadequate looking at the way some peers use it. She feels horrified at the bullying, but she can’t look away. She feels conflicted because someone who wants to be a journalist needs to pay attention to social media, right? Something’s gotta change, but how? IRL this author has begun leaving the phone in other rooms so that it can be forgotten. I am trying to invoke some kind of mantra that says, “It’s OK to not be connected all the time. It’s OK to not be on emergency alert just because an emergency *could* happen or news might be breaking. It’s OK to not be hip, or in the know, or constantly available, or the recently evolved/expected version of a ‘good’ person who should respond in a nanosecond to all possible crises.” And I wonder why I’m more anxious than I was before I had a “smart phone”? I’ve turned off notifications. I look at social media less. I am happier.💜💖💜
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I love a good journalism movie. I love it especial I love a good journalism movie. I love it especially when female journalists are the focus. Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey ought to be household names. I also thought that these three words from this Slate review–“persistence, persuasion, and pleading”– really do sum up the job of a journalist, trying to get the story, build trust, and out the truth. Now I need to read the book!
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2013. @ nervesofsteel is set in that time, when ce 2013. @ nervesofsteel is set in that time, when cell phones went from maybes to mandatory in teen life. Ezra Klein’s most recent podcast delves into the research about the effects on teen girls’ mental health from social media and constant online engagement. My book tells a story that begins on Instagram and ends on Twitter. 
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#mentalhealthawareness #yalit #historicalfiction #2013 #books #book #youngadult #mentalhealth #truthwillout

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