Do you color code?
Colors are very important in our lives. Whether you realize it or not, colors play a part in every thing we do. Right now, stop reading and look around you, wherever you are. Do you see all the colors? There are reds, blues, yellows, and greens just about everywhere you look.
When I was a little girl, I loved the color red. Everything I got had to be red. I still love red, but now I also love all the rest of the colors. I guess I sort of outgrew my passion for having only red. (For those of you who know Tami Jo Nix, you also know she never outgrew that red thing. Bless her heart, she is a loyal sort.)
Many people color code their files, or their closets or storage rooms and containers as they organize, so that things are easier to identify at a glance. This is a good idea. Also, as some people take notes, they use different color highlighters to differentiate categories of their notes.
I am in several organizations and committees, and I think of each one of them as a different color. So, when I organize my paperwork for the meetings, I put them in binders or totes of their imaginary colors. Friends of the Madera County Library is the color blue, because of the term “a true-blue friend.” P.E.O. is a sisterhood, and their color is yellow, because the flower of the organization is yellow. I am in several committees in my church, so each committee has a color in my mind, but when I have a church meeting, I carry around my papers in a red bag. I think of the church as red because of the cross and red flame symbol for the United Methodist Church.
The Madera Tribune is the color green to me, because one of our logos has green, and we all have green t-shirts with the logo on them.
I suppose I could write a book about colors and what they mean to me. It is true that a color can affect how you feel or how you react. Many years ago, I heard the color pink can subdue a person who is out of control, like a criminal who must be held. There was an experiment in which the holding room was painted pink, and it was effective in calming the prisoner. I also have heard that colors have different temperatures, so that a blind person could distinguish between colors on a page or other surface.
A color can also reflect a personality or mood, both figuratively and actually. In showing that a person is mad, a cartoonist may draw the face with red cheeks. To show that a person is cold, the image may have more blue in it. While red may mean irate, pink cheeks may show pleasure or happiness.
For those who are loyal to certain sports teams, the combination of the team colors is significant to the loyal fans. What Californian doesn’t recognize the team wearing red and gold jerseys? Just the sight of this combination of colors will generate a great deal of emotion from many folks I know.
Unfortunately, sometimes colors can be used in a negative way, such as when bad groups identify colors or combinations of colors as “their” colors, and create violent acts if others use “their” colors.
Colors belong to all of us. They are in nature, and are here for us to enjoy. Celebrate with colors; wear colors. Give all of us reason to smile as we share our colors together.
— My love to all,
Nancy
• • •
“Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.”
— Ezekiel 1:28
