Depends on the muse i'm writing in, so it depends on the character.
They will either be used as inspiration for a post, or props. They can be fully woven into a storyline, if you were to take Sera here, she'd use water/fire, the elements to describe something philosophical, and then make a story out of it. Whereas Kei would probably use them to take a bath, or build something. Nato would find creative ways to use them, or relate them to memories from within the items. Taiden would not notice most things, he's much more introspective, probably considering visual concepts to not be as important as the substance of a thing. My Sith tend to take these things or ways of thinking to darker shades.
I do lean towards using natural concepts or colors to express a post though, its setting or themes, or a characters point of view. Often having a few lines or a paragraph on that in each post, if not considerably more depending on the type of post.
Where is the one place in the world you can feel relaxed and at peace?