You know how you are just drawn to certain colors. It doesn’t matter what is popular we all have that special color that is our favorite. We pick up little accessories in that color, maybe our car is painted with it or our wardrobe has spashles of it everywhere. We gravitate towards this color because we like it and it makes us feel like us or the way we enjoy feeling when we feel our best.
My color is red. I love having a red pair of heels or a red scarf. It’s something that stands out and is eye catching. It makes me feel good, confident and even goes well with my skin coloring. I’ve always liked red and at one point painted my kitchen in an antique shade of red with buffalo check red and white drapes. I loved it. It was no where near what was in trend at the moment and I didn’t care. It is my color.
There are times I have not felt drawn to red though. When I’m in situations where I’m not comfortable being myself or the setting isn’t one that welcomes individuality, such as the workplace. It’s not welcomed to be yourself or you don’t feel included so your favorite color feels awkward and working against you. We have all felt those moments when we’d rather blend into the back of the room and not be noticed. Red in those situations has been a comfort to me that tells me it will all be ok and perhaps I’m just in the wrong place but I will get through it.
Whether it is a color, object, shape or aroma we all have ones we are drawn that make us feel like us. They sometimes even become the labels used to describe us or how people pick out gifts for us. Somehow we become associated with these elements that are eventually just how people know who we are and what we are about. They help us make an impression and tell our story even.
I eventually repainted my kitchen. I was ready for something new and fresh. We picked out a gray-blue paint and I bought new drapes. It is a lovely kitchen with stunning cabinets now updated in black to stand out against the lighter walls. While it’s no longer red it still makes an impression and I still love it. It isn’t that I don’t like red anymore but that I’ve found different ways to incorporate it. I think that’s that funny part of aging is that we evolve and sometimes we do change completely but we still hold onto the things we love in some form. Sometimes that just means finding new ways to bring out that characteristic that a single color helped us achieve.
No where are we drawn to color mare than in nature during the Fall and early Winter seasons. Nature uses these brilliant oranges, yellows and reds to tell us of changes in time. It touches every single one of us even if we don’t live in an area where Fall colors are very prevalent, we still feel it. Many of us even flock to capture these majestic landscapes appreciating what these colors represent and just the simple beauty nature brings out. We capture these moments on cameras and leaves we press into books to hold onto the time we felt. Being surrounded by colors gives us sense of wholeness and warmth that regardless of what has happened in life we are still here to appreciate simple beauty and grace.
I think that’s what our special colors do for us too. They remind us who we really are and help us stay true to the simple beauty and grace in our own life. Too often it’s easy to forget what really matters, where we are going or how we get there. Life has an incredible way of making us forget what we really were pursuing. Before we know it time has passed and we are not sure we’ve made progress there. Our favorite color by our side in comfort but not as shiny and prominent because of the dust and grim of every day living. That’s just it, life is messy and takes a lot out of us at times. Yet it is when we draw strength from the elements that make us feel like us, the real us underneath it all that we can rise and refocus. We can reclaim our voice and step forward in our own truth.
Color is everywhere in our life and we are all connected to it. It influences our mood, energy, focus, rest, and even our appetite. Nature uses color in spring with its pastel bright blooms and greens to awaken us from winter’s slumber and get us planting for a new season. Fall reminds us of warmth, comfort and harvest to save for the winter months; the times when life can be colder and darker. The colors of the season mimic our own patterns in life where there are times we plant, grow and harvest as well as rest and endure.
It is the connection to nature’s colors that reminds us time passes too quickly sometimes. It is a regular reminder we must find ways to be true to ourselves and let our own colors shine in what is right for us. A brilliant fall colored tree is the result of a well lived spring and summer. The same is true for us. Whether it is our hair that grays or a favorite color we learn new ways to include in our life, we must find the way to live our best life every day and enjoy the colors around us on that journey.
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