When I hung up the phone from my own coaching call with my coach today, the phrase “Just Add Purple” popped into my mind.

Not having the foggiest clue what that meant, but having a clear sense of what it felt like, I painted a page in my journal that was “Just Add Purple.” It seemed important, even though I didn’t know why. I painted completely from raw intuition.

Here is my journal page:

Hours later the meaning and the message dawned on me.

When I was very young, I had an invisible playmate named “Zotsy.” My parents could never fathom where that name came from, but it was clear to me. That was her name. I never had any doubt about it.

From roughly age too-young-to-count until age 7, Zotsy was with me 24/7. She knew everything. She had the answer to any problem. She was the perfect playmate. She was more fun than anyone else in my life.

I never had any worries or concerns because Zotsy was always there: I was completely cared for and was given any knowledge that I ever needed to make my way through life. I just asked Zotsy, and she gave me the answer I needed. About anything.

I played with Zotsy and we had tea parties. Of course, this was the eventual undoing of my relationship with Zotsy because everyone thought I was quite crazy when I got to whatever age it was when it was declared to be socially unacceptable to favor invisible playmates over real ones.

So, sadly, Zotsy went underground. Eventually I lost my feel of her presence in my life when it became more important to me to fit in than to commune with Zotsy.

It was many years later that I realized that Zotsy was my inner guidance. She showed up in a form that a child could relate to.

Purple was always Zotsy’s color.

In a blinding flash of the obvious, hours after my coaching call today, I realized that “Just Add Purple” meant “Just consult with your inner guidance; the answers are all and always there.”

Just add purple.

Filed under: Being a Reinventer, Adventures of a Reinventer, Lynne's Reinvention Journey on January 12th, 2009