Colors

Color is one of the first ways we begin to perceive our reality. Color plays a huge role in how we perceive ourselves, others, and the world we live in.

To see color we must have light. Without light, everything is just shadow – and there is nothing more terrifying than walking down the stairs at night and stepping on the “Lego landmines” left by your little ones at the bottom of the stairs…you know what I mean don’t you? That terrifying moment where you try and tiptoe through the invisible war zone and hold back your screams with each painful step! Yeah, I have a feeling you are “picking up” what I’m “putting down!”

All it would take is a little light! All it would take is just a candle to see those tiny, colorful “foes of the foot.” Imagine how many boxes of Legos could have been saved from going to the landfill by just using a little light!

Similarly, many of us live perpetually in a world of “shadow” or “black and white”! This leaves us feeling lost or wandering or in a world of extremes. That’s never fun! Perhaps we feel like we have nothing to offer the world or we find ourselves “spinning our wheels” because we just don’t have any idea how to move forward…because we don’t even know which direction is forward!

The truth is, “forward” for me looks much different than it will for someone else.

Let me illustrate what this looks like: Years ago when our oldest son was just a toddler, my wife and I sat together on the kitchen floor with our little boy who was just exploring soft foods for the first time. It was the perfect vision of a Hallmark moment…you know what I’m talking about, right? (All of them are the same story) A young couple in their first home with their little child and experiencing the joys of parenthood… cue happy music.

Well if it were a Hallmark movie, the happy music would have scratched to an immediate halt as my wife offered me the spoon to feed our little boy. Would you believe that he wouldn’t take any food from me? I responded in the only way I knew how. I grew frustrated and nearly threw the spoon against the wall! I acted in the very way I promised myself that I would NEVER act. But, because I had grown up in a household that had little tolerance for mistakes and a very extroverted way of showing frustration through aggression – that was the only way I knew how to react.

I remember my beautiful wife looked at me sternly and simply said, “If you ever want to have more children, I suggest you figure that out!” In the moment, I was ashamed…but today, I look on that moment in deep gratitude.

That is all she needed to say. Together we embarked on a journey to gain more “light” on how to be good parents. We went to classes and counseling, and read parenting books together. I watched others that I looked up to with great interest to see how I could transform my triggers to strengths. I began to see natural gifts of a loving and patient father begin to emerge. All it took was a little light to cease living in “shadow” and a world of extremes to see fatherhood in FULL COLOR!

Just because you find yourself in a world of shadow or the extremes of “black and white” today, does not mean it has to be your “tomorrow”. All it takes is a little light (self-awareness, experience, knowledge) to see your possibilities and gifts in full color!

So, how does color come into play? How can color reveal our gifts, heal, or become the highest versions of ourselves?

Color has been explored by the earliest inhabitants of this planet and by modern psychology as a way to support the human spirit and body to heal. Color is one of the few elements of design that invokes deep physical, emotional, mental and spiritual responses. Color triggers responses of stability, connection, balance, focus, imagination and consciousness! And this, my amazing friends, is how you and I can step into the design seat of our lives!

When we desire to move forward or progress in any area of our life…we can use COLOR as a tool to support our progression.

I truly believe that if color weren’t important, the Earth would have been created in black and white.