EverydayBliss: What Color is your Life?

My workspace in the great room, with blurred Emily in the background.

Listening to right now: A soft spring rain and morning Robins. (By clicking on this link, you will be at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, where you can search and then listen to the songs of many birds -- I've not yet searched one that they didn't have.)

Today's Happiness Formula: It's Friday, which doesn't exactly mean anything in these parts, but there's still something about Friday -- a shadow of the feelings we had when we were bored to death in high school, perhaps?

I thought about this color post a few weeks ago, and then, lo and behold, there are people taking photos of single colored items this week. For example, Liz. (I love her orange day the most.)

And then yesterday, I mentioned chakras, and it seemed like it was time to check this post off my list.

Like sound, so many people don't notice color -- to their detriment.

The purest and most thoughtful minds are
those which love color the most.
--John Ruskin, (1819-1900), English art critic

When I walk into someone's home, a new cafe, anywhere I've never been, color -- or the lack of it -- is the first thing I see, and it determines how I feel in that space and whether or not I want to go back.

I just saw an ad in a 1968 magazine (the year of my birth) for electric heat and how awesome it was because people could finally have cream colored walls.

It was a real a-ha moment for me. People older than myself associate cream and white with cleanliness! I get it.

But I don't.

Let's move on. Let's leave the 60's behind us, shall we? And perhaps we could also leave behind the 80's and the yuppie taupes?

As you can see from the tiny snippet of our home above, we are not afraid of color.

And no one should be -- it's so easy to repaint. (Ask my partner how many times she has painted the bedroom as I keep trying to get it just right -- and I finally have, thanks to dark mulberry.)

And while we're at it, let's stop associating black with chic, shall we? A bit of black is one thing, but all black is so art school student. Think of the color that Indian women wear -- those saris!

We all know that color affects our moods, but how? What colors will do what to us in our homes or when we wear them?

Mere color, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied
with definite form, can speak to the soul
in a thousand different ways.
--Oscar Wilde, (1854-1900), Irish poet and dramatist

Go with your gut. What attracts you? Spend lots of time in front of paint chip displays -- this is a wonderful way to pass some rainy day hours. Oh, how I love paint chips! Little squares of whole worlds in your hands.

With color one obtains an energy that
seems to stem from witchcraft.
--Henri Matisse, (1869-1954), French Painter

What of this magical aspect of color? Traditional healers and shamans from all over the world have always utilized color in their work. We can do this for ourselves.

We can color our world and heal ourselves, slow ourselves down, energize ourselves.

And we can start by looking at our own body's main energy centers, the chakras, and the colors associated with each.

The first chakra, red, the root, is about our stability in this world. Do we feel at home here? Some people think red in a room is too aggressive, but actually, it can be very warming. It depends on tone, like any color.

The second chakra, orange, the seat of our creativity. Do you express your personal style easily and without apology? This is a great color for a writing room.

The third chakra, yellow, your navel center. Is your willpower strong? Do you stick to your plans and see things through? This is your fire, your burning desires tied to the energy to manifest those desires.

The fourth chakra, green, your heart. Do you face life head on, without fear? Are you compassionate -- not just to others but also to yourself?

The fifth chakra, blue, your throat. Do you speak your mind? Do you speak your truth? Are you being force fed and having a hard time swallowing? For a whole year, I felt like my throat was being squeezed shut and then the real writing started.

The sixth chakra, indigo, your third eye point. As Ravi Singh says, opening your third eye is about seeing clearly so that you might know your destiny and move toward it.

The seventh chakra, violet, your crown, the thousand petaled lotus. If this chakra is active, you are connected to the whole; you feel your innate boundlessness.

From Alice Walker:
I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple
in a field somewhere and don't notice it.

Look around. What colors have you surrounded yourself with? Are they energizing you or draining you? Do you feel happy in your space or melancholy?

Play. Make some changes. Just see.