Color Coated
Hello friend, checking in on your heart. How are you on this fine hump day? Are you just absolutely rosy and tickled pink? I hope you are not down, consumed and blue. Are you “chill”, just mellow yellow? Cozy in contentment or grappling with a soul that is green with envy? Is it rage? Are you seeing red? May we all fancy feeling pretty in pink. Color captivates the essence of our world. Hues of light measured in brightness speak to the very essence of our being, our emotional heart rate, if you will. Or even like an internal temperature. Our emotions range from the palest pinks to the most vibrant depths of violet. Our souls illuminate our emotions like the rainbow. The external seasons are often acknowledged through color as well. The seasons shifts and the weather patterns adjust. We watch leaves change color and texture. We take in brisk winds where there was once a beaming sun. The patterns of the times are not only reflected in the weather but also with us. Winter whites, warm autumn hues of auburn and brown. Spring floral and pretty pastels. Hot neon brights to accompany the equally steaming sweltering sun of summer. We color ourselves in accordance with the weather. There are the seasons determined by the sun as well as the seasons determined by the ages and stages of life. There are traditions observed on the large scale as it pertains to color and the seasons or stages of life. Cultures across the globe by large continue to mourn in black during memorials and celebrations to honor the deceased. Many cultures observing not just a specific day but an intentional season of mourning. A time where the bereaved wear black to commemorate their loss and communicate the stage of pain and grief. Black garments adorned on physical bodies to reflect brokenhearted souls. In a stark contrast. Brides across the globe say I do in white. Bridal showers, bachelorette parties, brunches, wedding lunches, wedding day and day after send off brides often are adorned in white. A symbol of a fresh, clean, pure celebratory occasion. The start of a future of hope with the brightness of white a contrast of the end of a life in the darkness of black. The insides reflect the outsides on those polarized days. Black is not always dark and white not always hopeful but these are cultural examples of the outside reflecting the sentiment of the inside. What about when the temperature permeates so deep it begins to consume the colors that radiate your insides? When your internal temperature is adversely and greatly impacted by external happenings.
Our world is highlighted in varying hues of color. Beautiful pigmentation as far as the eye can see. There are also however strong shades that are just as pervasive and effective as what is visible to the naked eye. These tones are powerful but not visual. Feeling blue, green with envy, red in a fury of rage, or are you tickled pink in delight of your life? Our full range of emotions are not only normal but necessary. Like the beauty of the rainbow so is the human experience. Are you sad? Lean in. Feel that sadness. Is that envy you feel? Call it out by name. Recognize it, wrestle with it, and reconcile it. Enjoy the beauty of their grass as you tend to your own. Are you hot under the collar? Hands balled up in a fist? Pause, stay there for a moment. Anger is not wrong. How you respond in the midst of the emotion may be. But the emotion in and of itself is not wrong. Has life felt like cotton candy and rainbows? Are you walking on sunshine? You must be tickled pink. What great joy. Revel in that space. Dance, sing, and share that joy with others. I have heard it say that emotions are to the soul what physical pain is to the body. It is here to inform you. Listen up. Move with grace and tenderness. Take the time to feel but be intentional to heal. Feel it, honor it and move as best as you can through it.
I have been rocking all the bright colors I can get my hands on. Neon on my nails, neon shoes, neon clothing. I am loving all the bright and bold prints the season brings. I love the light and lavish colors of summer. The temperatures are rising and the colors are hot too. I will be equally ecstatic in the fall. The warm colors outside make me want to dress cozy and embrace warmer tones. This is natural. The shift in seasons changes our nature and activity. Much like a change in your seasons or circumstances may shift your internal color. You were tickled pink to be graduating but now you are jobless, seemingly option less and feeling rather blue. You were tickled pink to have a great group of girlfriends but now you are green with envy as you are the only single who remains. How about if you are seeing red in your motherhood more than you would like to admit. It is so. You are feeling these feels. Acknowledge them, honor them, take time to sit in them and let them inform you of a greater truth. Maybe its time to go after your personal goals with a more aggressive push. Maybe the truth is you need to pivot and proceed with greater focus. Perhaps you fooled yourself into thinking you did not want to be married. That pervasive feeling of envy may be your own desire that is rising up and shouting within you. Celebrate your girls and now be honest and open about what you want for you. Seeing red with your kiddos when it used to be pure delight. Be grateful for the feeling. That is your soul’s way of saying I need a break. Get a sitter, go out for the girls night, plan the vacation. Give your soul the break it is crying out for.
Our world is a beautiful tapestry of color. Some of them are outside of you. Some of them are within. Sometimes what is on the outside will permeate the inside. The colors within should speak to and inform the behavior on the outside, not control. Feel when you must. Name it. Honor it and deal with it accordingly. When my sister passed away I wore black but I also painted my nails with the brightest hue of pink I could find. Not only because pink is my favorite color but also as a banner to my soul and my body that we would hope again, laugh again and rejoice again. I wore black clothing for months after she passed. I honored the pain and grief I felt. I also held on to the glimmer of pink until bit by bit my blue no longer over took me. I will always mourn my loss yes but also that I would live. Vibrant, loving, living and hoping. My internal color will not be overruled by external seasons.
