Stop what you’re doing right now and take a look around you. Go ahead. I’ll wait…..well, what’d you see? Whether you are indoors or out, it would be impossible to count all of the colors that your eyes take in. One color has a million shades, grays, blacks, reds, pinks, blues, and purples. I mean, there are a gazillion beautiful colors
We use color to describe every aspect of life, from the food we eat, like a red apple or brown rice, to our personalities and emotions such as feeling blue or green with envy.
Humans have fought and died for the sake of colors, those on a flag, an ornament, or a uniform. We use color to differentiate between countries, sports teams, popular brands, and even street gangs (is that still “a thing?”).
Growing up in the ’80s near Los Angeles, California, I remember people, mostly young black men and boys, being killed over red or blue colors. Songs have been written about our True Colors, Blue Suede Shoes, Yellow Submarines, and the colors of the eyes of a person we love in songs like Brown Eyed Girl and more. We’ve witnessed colors so beautiful, particularly when viewing an orangy blue sunset or sitting on the sand watching the ocean waves’ vivid blue and green tones on a beautiful beach. Color is fantastic!
So, where do we go wrong?
We also use colors to describe our skin tone or the skin tone of another. Black people, White people, Redboned, Yello people, Brown people, and as a descriptor, it’s not a big deal. However, some of us use color as an excuse to abuse those whose color we perceive as weak, counted out, or just underrepresented in a group. We even fear those whose color is “different” from ourselves or simply not the color we are used to seeing in a certain area or place. We use the beautiful color of age to cause us to fear the aging process and treat the eldest of our population with violence and disrespect. Spoiler Alert! If you live long enough, you will wear the beautiful color of age, and I’m sure you’d want to be treated kindly. Why is color any less beautiful on the face of another? Why do some believe their color is superior to the others? Is purple prettier than red or pink? How boring would the world be if we were all the same color, the same age, the same size, had the same opinions…the same everything?
We would never paint every wall and item in a room the exact same color. That would be boring! But, a room is much more interesting, vibrant, engaging, inviting, and beautiful with multiple shapes, textures, and beautiful colors. The same is true with life. It is much sweeter, adventurous, and intriguing with multiple perspectives of those different from ourselves and each other.
Surrounding ourselves with terrific people who are beautiful like a rainbow enriches our lives in many ways. As for me, I have found a richness in the small group of people that I call my friends. Some are gay, and some are young, some are older, some are White, Asian, Black, etc. The people around me bring various perspectives that I would never have seen or thought of on my own! They bring different exposures and life experiences that I learn from and often apply in my own life. When I think about it, I didn’t seek these folks out. I just keep my mind and heart open for solid individuals with wonderful dispositions and good hearts. The color of their lives makes no difference to me whatsoever.
The trick to surrounding oneself with the beautiful colors of life is to remember that it isn’t about skin tone, racial makeup, or national origin. It is about the color of nonjudgment and a label-free existence. Society forces us to subscribe to its labels old, young, Boomer, GenZ, high schooler, college-educated, doctor, or lawyer, Muslim, Christian, mother, father, disabled, whatever. Excuse the cliche, but variety IS the spice of life. And embracing life is the whole meal!
When I was young, I really loved watching The Brady Bunch. Marsha, Greg, Cindy, and the crew were really entertaining…back then. We had like 5 TV channels, all shelling out very homogeneous content. Today, we watch that show, and others (now retro) like it with all of the bright colors of an era long past and wonder where the “life” color was? It is very noticeable now that that show and others like it were quite monotoned in every sense. As a young black girl, I somehow thought I’d one day be Marsha and date a guy like Greg. I thought this even though there was nary, a nonwhite person on the show. When I was in college, I fell in love with a man who was not black. Were it not for his parents, who let me know they were closeted racists; we would very likely have been married. That wasn’t the first time I was judged by my color, but certainly one of the most painful. Even after knowing me for three years! They came clean on their lack of support of our future children AND me! Don’t worry; I’m not bitter; THAT is a color that I don’t paint with in my life. I send them love and light
If you’re looking for love, try to be open to meeting someone whom you would not have considered. Want new friends? Open yourself up to befriending people from any specific color of life you are unfamiliar with, afraid of, or even biased against. Challenge your long-standing beliefs. You will likely find some pretty cool folks. Extend a kindness “just because.” Challenge your biases. If being biased, bigoted, or discriminatory was a part of your upbringing, grow up and let it go! Your parents live their lives. It’s time to live yours. Find YOUR true colors.
Allow yourself to indulge in the hearts of great people without regard to any other color about them. Open your mind and set yourself free from the misunderstanding of colorful stereotypes. Those like calling the color teal, green or blue, maybe it’s both or neither. If someone you meet demonstrates one stereotype or another, don’t assume truth for every other person you view as “like them.” Whatever the color of “like them” is.
Watch your words. Saying things like all generation so and so, blah, blah, blah, or all people with disabilities yadda, yadda, challenge yourself to find out the truth, the wondrous truth of the individual.
Love is not blind. We all see color.., saying we don’t is, frankly, not true. It’s time that we celebrate all of the colors of life. I mean, whoop it up. The best times in my life have been spent with the most interesting and colorful people with different perspectives than mine.
Color is fantastic and must line up together side-by-side to create a rainbow. Can you imagine what a rainbow would look like if the colors were at odds with one another or if there were only one color? A one-colored rainbow is a stripe. It is not even a rainbow anymore!
Let’s treat each other with kindness. Color, ALL color is beautiful.
ARE YOU WITH ME?
Love, Light and a colorful existence.
Thrive, everyday!
Cr8AB
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Bravo my friend, Bravo‼️👏
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