If I asked you to tell me intuitively what color you are at your emotional level, what would you say? Are you a bright sunshine yellow, a dark blue, maybe even a dull gray? Does that color change moment to moment, day to day?
Whether we are aware of it or not color plays a big part in our lives. The color of the walls in our home, the color of our car, the color of our stationery (for those of you who still write letters and thank you notes), and particularly the color of our clothes can and does profoundly affect our mood, concentration and emotions. Color can be the difference between humming a happy tune or crying, joyfully cleaning closets or absentmindedly breaking your glasses.
For instance, what do you feel when you see someone driving a tomato red car? What conclusions do you draw about that driver? Do you think he or she is energized, a live wire? How does it impress you to walk into a home or an office with walls painted totally in a dark and heavy brown? Depressed, unhappy, hiding out or simply hiding something?
I have always been fascinated with color. It isn’t enough that I feel the need to change the sheets on my bed every week, I simply must change the colors as well. This week I will have the bottom sheet a flowered blue and perhaps a light pink top sheet and the pillow slips? Well, you get the idea. Given a chance I would paint one or more walls in a bedroom pale blue or spring green invoking relaxation and the wonderful renewal of a sound sleep.
One of my other color “addictions” is dinnerware; plates and particularly coffee mugs. I know I own plenty of those mugs but show me one in just the right color and I have got to add it to my collection. Each morning I tend to ponder which mug is perfect for that day’s coffee and that day’s planned activities!
When I decorate any room I am thinking about the feeling I want to create. For instance a kitchen might call for sunshine yellow and any other light hearted mix of colors, a little orange or yellow, any colors that bring out childlike creativity and glee! My living room might call for shades of red to encourage socializing, animated conversation.
If you knew for a certainty that the outcome of your day would be greatly enhanced by your picking the right color from your wardrobe, would you do it? I know many people who are wearing the same color or colors day after day perhaps because of their work environment requirements or simple habit. However, it is important to note that lack of attention to color can cause a day of enormous potential to become one of drab results.
It was not an accident that caused a particular real estate chain to ask their salesman to wear gold jackets. The color encourages respectful attention as well as good communication in general.
If you wake up to start your day feeling “out of sorts” just selecting the right color clothes to wear can truly help. It is amazing what putting on your favorite color blouse or shirt can do to lighten your mood. It can put you into a state of positive expectance, looking for happy little miracles.
When you feel the urge to eat late at night has it ever been triggered by a particularly colorful food advertisement on the television? Was it that hamburger photo revealing red tomatoes, a big slice of shiny orange appearing cheese, green lettuce?
If today’s agenda calls for a lot of intense work, wearing all black may not be the best choice. What color gives you the most concentration and energy? It is a very personal choice but an important one. Taking the time to become more attuned to what any one of the colors does for you personally, what effect it has on you, might be a great benefit.
If you are interacting with specific people for a purpose, consider what you are trying to accomplish and which colors could help you achieve your goal. Do you want to simply attract attention to yourself and your ideas or do you want to create a calmer more receptive atmosphere? Perhaps it is both but in any case the right colors can help.
You can make your very personal “science of color” work for you! It just requires a little experimenting and the desire to make your life events mirror your own special sparkle.