Elise writes about memories and four key words

Sometimes a memory from long ago bubbles to the surface when one least expects it. It could be years, even decades, for the remembrance to appear, and often we may not even know why.

I recently recalled a time when a South Korean student, to whom I taught English as a Foreign Language when I was a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1970s, asked me what was the color of “lonely.”

It seemed odd at first, but this middle school boy was particularly precocious and, even from the start, one could tell he was introspective and had a creative mind.

His question came at a time when I had never heard of “synesthesia,” a circumstance where one sense or part of the body is stimulated by another sense of the body. For example, some people with synesthesia can taste “loud” or hear a rectangle.

This boy either saw lonely as a color or he was thinking poetically. He showed me a picture of a persimmon, a very popular fruit in South Korea, and said how sad and lonely he becomes when all the persimmons drop from the trees in and around the city of Daegu. For him, loneliness was orange.

It is interesting to think about isolation being connected in any way to a fruit and its ripening period. It reminded me of a sad time decades ago when trees first started to blossom. While it might be counterintuitive, I used to associate the start of spring to a difficult period. The feeling lingers at times, but only slightly now.

I wonder what triggers other people have to an emotion that is only indirectly connected to the experience or moment. It would be fascinating to hear their stories.

The same middle school student who wondered about loneliness also asked me the meaning of the word “mantra.”

I don’t remember my exact answer, but I think I told him that it was a sort of chant to repeat in your mind (or out loud) to motivate you to finish a task, reduce anxiety or simply clear your mind. I might have said that it could be a sound, a word or a group of words.

I tried to remember any kind of mantra I may have used in the past to quell an anxious thought, but nothing came to mind in the 1970s.

I have since found a mantra that works for me. It consists of words that can be distilled from five to four. They are: “Please, let me be enough.”

Take out the word “please” and you still have a prayer. If we think there should be more to what we are doing, or if we wonder how life could be different, say the words: “Let me be enough.”

Language is a powerful instrument we can easily use to change our thinking, and sometimes it is what we need to alter the course of our lives.

Say the words to a loved one. Say them to yourself. Say them to God.

If not those precise words, there are others that serve the dual purpose of focusing peace in your thoughts and an opening in your heart.

The word “namaste” literally translated means, “The Divine within me bows to the Divine within you.” One word. One soul.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Elise commentary: The color of lonely, memories and four words