Welcome to Find Your Colors. I am Jeff B White and I am the writer and creator behind the Shards of Color Trilogy.
Find Your Colors is a reader supported publication on Substack and a listener supported podcast on Spotify. Wherever you find us be sure to like, follow, and subscribe.
As I prepare to publish BLUSH BORN, first book in this trilogy, I'm using this platform to build awareness of these books and to explore the story. I'm breaking down all the psychological concepts that are present within all three books and as well explaining exactly how I translated my memoir, Shards of Hope A Tweaker Witch's Journey into this dark fairy tale.
But more than that, Find Your Colors is the platform through which I am allowed to experience my life's purpose, and the purpose behind all the things that I have survived in my life. That purpose is having survived those things, so that I could share the story allowing some person out there who might be going through something similar or through their own level of nonsense to feel less alone. While I am discussing very specific things from my life, the foundation upon which this work is built is that universal truths apply. Those are: The power that you're searching for comes from within you. The strength that you need is already yours. And the light that you are looking for, is right there waiting, you just have to know where to look. That's why I'm here. We are going to look inside and Find Your Colors.
Recap
On Monday we continued on with the reading of the book BLUSH BORN with Chapter 8 Colorless. We were introduced to the cast of characters who portray the architects of the gray and we ended with Jethran sent to the dungeon.
Because I missed my regular chapter posting day, I decided today I want to do something a little different and I'm going to expand upon a previous post about the Seven Songs.
The Breakdown
The Rhythm of the Seven Songs
On Monday, I will pick back up with Chapter 9. As for today, I previously explained how the Seven Songs were inspired by real-world individuals. Now, I want to show you how they actually exist within the world of BLUSH BORN through both present-day events and historical grounding.
When I created these characters, I knew I wanted the fallen gods to be called the Seven Songs. The name ties directly into the full cosmology of the world and the spiritual beliefs of the Silvarii people who listen to the Hum of the Great Melody. This is a their world's answer to meditation and harmonic resonant frequencies. However, one thing always bothered me. There was never an organic way for them to actually be songs.
People sing throughout the story, and singing becomes a massive part of the narrative later, but the gods themselves were never literal songs. From my point of view, it felt like huge a plot hole. The narrative could have functioned without them being songs, yet their titles demanded more.
The Myths of the Songs
Below are each of the Seven Songs, along with their myths, and the songs that were crafted from the myths. For this story I created my own emotions and elements as you'll see below.
I. Crezwil (Purple: Emotion of Embrace and Element of Flame)
The meaning and purpose behind this specific being is to convey the need for integration of the stories we've survived with the person we've become. Embracing the one who was wounded.
There was a scar, jagged and deep, that no one dared touch. A cursed wound etched across a sacred hill. But one day, a traveler came who knelt before the wound and kissed it. From the scar bloomed a flower, fierce and wild, its petals stained with every hue the world had tried to erase. The traveler carried that bloom inside, where it grew into a fire.
They wore their story on their skin. The people in the world saw them and said that they were grotesque. They saw themselves as glorious, because they were unhidden. The light that shone from their wounds was a song of survival made visible that resonated in the bones of others, reminding them of their own unhealed parts. They did not ask to be seen, but they radiated until others could not look away. But in the process of being seen, they helped others to see themselves. Because of this, they loved their beautiful story.
Sung upon a once before…
A wound sat on a small hill,
Stretching out both near and far.
People feared the wound until,
A traveler saw the scar.
Seeing it held no such curse,
Forgotten pain is much worse.
They kissed the scar gave it love.
Soon a purple flower grew,
Glowing with the brilliance of
Miraculous vibrant hue.
Plucked to keep the flower safe,
Sheltered from the worldly chafe.
Its warmth made the spirit soar.
Its love put the pain to sleep.
It opened the healing door,
To truths we struggle to keep.
The traveler then knew he,
Loved their beautiful story.
II. Muralis the Listener (Blue: Emotion of Stillness and Element of Void)
The meaning behind this entity is to convey acceptance of Stillness and quiet in order to allow healing when trauma has become too loud, but to not linger in those moments of Stillness for too long or else one becomes trapped.
They say the forest forgets itself every winter, swallowing names and footprints. A wanderer came, skin peeled from too many winters, lungs filled with smoke. They inhaled the blue mist that erased hunger, pain, and memory. They became no one. An echo without a voice. Behind them trailed a thin line of smoke, a secret they could not shed.
One day, a child followed that thread, eyes burning with questions. The child whispered a name into the cold air. The smoke trembled. The wanderer woke. To wake was a violence and a grace; a sudden, searing agony that was also undeniable proof of being alive. They looked down and found their own hands again, trembling with survival. Raw, unclaimed, real.
Sung upon a once before…
Soldier burning deep within,
Trapped in anguish of the war.
Quiet settles on his skin,
Standing on the ruined shore.
Mists born of the summer storm
Offers quiet in its form.
Silenced screams and silent fear,
Replace terror of what's lost.
Voices speak but you must hear,
Forget pain at any cost.
The child you know comes again
Whispers truths from way back then.
Memories caged in his head,
Forget so you remember.
Pulling the connected thread.
Cerulean's burning ember.
Leave the bitter dark behind,
Pain unraveled frees his mind.
Discovering he’s alive.
III. Elba Reclecta (Red: Emotion of Memory and Element of Self)
For this one, the purpose is to convey the importance of our memory and of our path. Knowing where we've been and how we've gotten here so that we can be able to fully embrace our future and where we're going.
The giant red lady suspended from the purple crescent blood moon. Swings over the graves of lilac dirt with the weight of time, held captive by the gravity of history. Her silent pendulum ticks the end of an era and tocks the beginning of an eon. She was a silent witness to all endings, and so the dead trusted her with their truths.
She hummed a beautiful tune as she held out one hand that contained the past, in the other she held the future. Those who watched felt the weight of their own bones, the pull of a lineage reborn in rhythm and memory.
The weight of the memories of every person who lived and died was a heavy song to sing, costing her the memories that were most precious to her. The memories of herself. The people living asked her why she would give her own memories just to remember those who were gone. She said, "Because when the past is forgotten, the future’s beauty dies."
Sung upon a once before…
Swinging from the crescent moon,
Holding futures in her hand.
She hums the past with her tune,
Swings over the shadowed land.
Over graves of lilac dirt
Healing all the ancient hurt.
Heavy songs across the space,
Humming with the bitter tears.
Watching the forgotten place,
Washing away bitter fears.
Given for the truth compelled
Losing memories she held.
If the past is left to fade,
Future beauty surely dies.
Giving up the self she made,
Watching with unknowing eyes.
Truth will make the vision clear
Casting out the ancient fear.
IV. Rabb the Storm Eater (Yellow: Emotion of Justice and Element of Seed)
The meaning behind this entity is to learn the difference between the righteous rage in the face of injustice and the destructive anger that serves no purpose. With one we can fight against wrongdoing but with the other we only get in the way.
They tell of a man born beneath a sky that never rested, where storms roared and lightning struck with reckless fury. The land trembled, and the people cowered behind walls of silence. But the man did not flee. Instead, he opened his mouth wide and swallowed the fire. Each bolt seared his flesh and cracked his bones, yet he stood firm. His teeth a grinding thunder.
When the last storm was devoured, the skies calmed. His heart glowed like a captive star, and his voice forever rumbled with the echo of the thunder he had tamed. The people named him monster, a madman who invited destruction into himself. But the land remembered him as a shield. The storm-eater who bore the lightning so others could stand unbroken.
Sung upon a once before
Underneath a boiling sky,
Storms will rattle at the door.
Watching primal lightning fly,
Crashing on the valley floor.
Aureolin strikes the night,
He inhales the jagged light.
Thunder he must now control,
Holding all the storm within.
Taking on the heavy toll,
Bones aglow beneath his skin.
People scream and call him beast
As he makes the sky his feast.
He stands ready as a shield,
Swallows the deep unspoken.
Standing firm within the field,
So others stay unbroken.
Banishing the shadows deep
Guarding those who fall asleep.
V. Hun Gun the Seer (Orange: Emotion of Release and Element of Wave)
For this one it was important to convey the point of releasing ourselves from what if and what could have been, to mourn the different versions of ourselves that we never became so that we can accept the version of ourselves who we are.
There was once a mirror unlike any other. It was carved from twilight and edged with whispers. It refused to show faces as they were. Instead, it revealed the selves hidden beneath layers of fear and forgetfulness, the selves buried beneath shattered dreams. The mirror did not invent; it only excavated.
Those who dared gaze into it found not reflection, but possibility. Some saw brilliance, others ruin. Those who lingered too long lost their grip on the world, unraveling into strangers. But those with courage stepped through the fractured glass. They shed the weight of what they were told to be and claimed the truth the mirror offered. They became someone the world had never known, new shapes born from the shards of old lies.
Sung upon a once before
Carved from twilight in the sky,
Mirrors open up the door.
Hidden visions start to fly,
Shadows dancing on the floor.
Mirrors wake the unlived dream,
Unborn futures start to gleam.
Stepping to the fractured frame,
Mourning what was unexplored.
Weeping for a different name,
Witnessing the paths ignored.
Grieving versions left behind
Healing the divided mind.
Some will linger in the gaze,
Silencing the present voice.
Fading in the mirrored maze,
Lost within the branching choice.
Wisdom brings the true self near
Mourning now with every tear.
VI. Midgelle the Sun (Green: Emotion of Forgiveness and Element of Wind)
Personally, this was the most important lesson of all and the most difficult. That we have to forgive ourselves for what's been done to us. And that forgiveness is not required for those who harmed us, but it is required for ourselves.
The world was once consumed by darkness. High upon a mountain, there was woman whose skin glowed with an internal viridescence. The people, seeking light and warmth, came to her and asked her to give them her skin. She gave it to them willingly, piece by piece.
Where the skin was taken, it grew back, and the light became even brighter. The people, seeing her exposed, asked how she could endure the pain. She revealed that she let her light go so that she could keep it, sharing herself so that their time in darkness would be less.
Yet, she realized she had given more of herself than she had to give. She began to hold onto herself more than she had before. She forgave herself for what was taken from her. As her skin grew back in the places it had been taken, it showed the map of her healing. From it, the light grew brighter than any light had ever been, until she became the very light to shine for the whole world. Now she wears her skin, while the people bathe in the light of her story.
Sung upon a once before…
Darkness held the starless night,
High upon the mountain peak
People begged her for the light,
Viridescence on her cheek.
Piece by piece she gave away,
The beauty of her own skin
Giving so the light would stay,
Healing from the pain within
Gave it so that she could keep
Growing brighter through the day.
Waking from the shadows deep.
Holding back the glowing part,
Letting the bright beauty show.
Healing up the giving heart,
So its light they all may know.
When for light the people call
She shines down upon them all.
Yes, there are only six songs here. I didn't forget. However, sharing the seventh song would give away too much from the story. I can't just give it all away. When we've reached that point in the story the background and explanations for the final song will be provided. So in order to access those parts of the story, you'll either have to join as a paid subscriber or wait until the book is published and buy a copy. What I can tell you is that it's definitely worth whichever choice you make.
Seeing What Was Right in Front of Me
Recently, I made a massive discovery within my own writing. I found syllabic verse scattered throughout the text. I realized different paragraphs naturally followed the structure of a haiku, and I had unknowingly formed sonnets right in the middle of standard narrative. I have been told by beta readers, editors, and agents that my writing carries a unique poetic quality. I never really understood that feedback before. I simply wrote things the way they sounded best in my head.
When I sat down to create the Seven Songs, I knew Jethran needed to experience them through a lullaby, a fairy tale, or a vision. I ended up using a combination of all three. The visions he endures are built directly from the myths of these seven entities.
I wanted this world to feel lived in. I wanted the history to make complete sense. I found the easiest way to achieve that was to sit down with every single component and flesh it out fully before dropping it into the story.
By creating each aspect of the story separately and then weaving them together, I established a foundation that functions as a real component of life. This process allowed me to create lore that feels ancient and inevitable. The opposite approach involves pushing characters through a scene and inventing lore on the spot just to solve a problem. Readers can always feel when something is manufactured simply to get through a moment.
Before I wrote anything else, I sat down with each color and assigned it a specific emotion. Then, I wrote seven individual myths. I don't use the actual myths in the story but I translate the myths into something else such as a dream or a vision. I took those myths and rewrote them to mimic the experience. I made the narrative fractured. I left the symbolism intentionally vague while keeping the emotional impact highly explicit. That exact combination makes the lore feel purely mythological.
While reviewing my work, I kept noticing these moments of accidental poetry within the lyrical prose. The vision scenes and the lullabies are inherently surreal. I decided to lean fully into that rhythm.
For example, the lullaby Regale sings to Jethran in Chapter 1, naturally came out as fourteen sentences containing exactly seven, eight, or nine syllables each. Basically, I had written a sonnet, that was slightly off balance. After playing with specific syllable structures and line counts, I decided to turn the myths for all Seven Songs into individual songs that contain three verses of six to seven lines, each line having seven syllables.
The Pleasure of Creating
I love these myths. I was able to take the emotional lessons and steps I had to manage in my path to recovery that are explained in my memoir, and forge them into living characters on the page. It was a fun undertaking and I feel as if I've done it. To craft those lessons and life points into something that told the same story and gave the same outcome, but sounded like it came long before I was born was absolutely a challenge.
As I said in my previous post about the Seven Songs, doing this specific portion of the work turned out to show me much more about myself and my own personal growth than the memoir ever did. This required me to dissect all of these different aspects of my journey and provide them put back together in a way that was coherent and showed the psychology behind these moments of growth. Ultimately, this was the most rewarding thing I've ever done.
Let's Discuss
It's important to me that these characters are coherent and more so than just to myself.
* Do the emotional purposes and the lessons of the songs resonate with you?
* Is this a story that you would read?
Feel free to answer the questions in the comment section or take them with you.
What's Next?
Finally on Monday, I will be sharing the text of chapter 9 with the following breakdown and will be discussing how loss helps to form us.
Join the Conversation
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See ya later!
As always if have read this all the way to the end or if you listen to it all the way through, then you are absolutely my hero and I want to thank you for allowing me the time out of your day and the space in your brain to share my story and to introduce Jethran to the world.
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