Hello Friends!
I hope you are beginning to feel Spring slowly creeping in. I have been spending as much time soaking up the sunshine as I can, while I worked on this week's ruminations.
I had a hard time with this one. COLOR is this huge subject that can go in so many directions, I had almost begun to think I had chosen the wrong subject.
I commissioned a piece of artwork for the cover of my book. The only direction that I gave the artist was that it had to be "joyful" looking. She asked me what color that was and I answered immediately, yellow. But it got me thinking...what color is joy?
I've posed the question to several people. I posted it on Linked In, facebook, even twitter. I got answers all over the board. Some surprised me - blue and deep purple. While others were merely intriguing ...a rainbow of color, rainbows represent joy.
There is obviously no right or wrong answer to the question. The question is, why are you asking?
Color plays such an important role in life. We use color to describe our moods, "feeling blue, green with envy, in the pink, the mean reds (for you Breakfast at Tiffany's fans)". But, color is everywhere. The most pervasive color in nature is green. It is the color of the heart chakra. It is the color that represents abundance. For one friend of mine a vibrant green was his color for joy.
I watched a movie the other night with another friend. The movie took place in India. It was a riot of color. Color is so important there that they actually have a Color Day. People were literally throwing handfuls of color at one another! It was amazing!
I had the pleasure of going to the museum of nature and science recently. The thing that kept leaping out at me was how amazingly colorful nature was! Green, blue, red, yellow, even fuschia birds from all over the world, in the same place as the gem & mineral rooms full of stones of every color imaginable. That's when it hit me ~ the reason joy is so many colors to us is because the world is full of so many colors! The rainbow comment made a lot more sense. How can you choose one color? Each one is more wonderful and rich than the last.
When you describe people that are non-caucasian, they are described as "people of color". The reality is, everyone is a person of color. We are different shades and hues of browns, pinks and beiges. Everyday we get dressed and depending, we'll choose clothes to reflect our mood or our surroundings. When I lived in NYC, I wore A LOT of black. It had become a running joke in my family. I realized part of what I was doing was reflecting my surroundings. Since moving, my wardrobe has lightened up considerably and I choose color more often. In fact, if my day is starting out a little grey and low, I'll choose a bright color to lift my mood.
I am about to move to the Pacific Northwest. A dear friend of mine suggested that I get umbrellas in every color because those might be the only bright spot I have in my days. I told her that my "sunny disposition" would help get me through. But, I think a bright yellow umbrella could be a lot of fun!
So, my friends I challenge you to look around you. Are you feeling a little low? The bright sunshine and Spring flowers haven't quite arrived yet. Now would be the perfect time to add a bit of color to your day. Paint a wall, buy new towels for your bathroom, buy some flowers for your table/your desk...anything to add more color to your life. Take your cue from Nathan Lane's character in Birdcage ~ "One does need a hint of color".
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
The Joy of Daydreaming
Happy Sunday Friends! When I decided to do my next blog on daydreaming, I envisioned a diatribe in defense of myself and fellow daydreamers. Being the researcher that I am, I decided to go online and look for proof that daydreaming wasn't a bad thing.
I found it right away. Psychology Today even has a blog dedicated to daydreaming (http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-daydreaming). I found articles galore discussing how helpful it was for sparking creativity. If you use different language and call it visualization, as some articles did, then it's an amazing tool to help prepare before performing a task or competing in athletics. Albert Einstein was a daydreamer. In fact, many great achievers throughout history were daydreamers. See I knew it!
Of course, I found some nay-sayers. I even found a website for parents warning about the consequences to their childrens' future. There were "warning signs" and tales of catastrophic events that happened to daydreamers. Still, I wasn't deterred.I was still sure I was right and had enough ammunition to prove my point.
Then I read an article in a psychology journal that stopped me in my smug little tracks. It brought up the Buddhist tennat about remaining present. As so many daydreams are about future desires or past occurences, when people spend a lot of time daydreaming they are losing their time experienceing the "now".
Okay now this was saying something. It got me thinking, when I daydream, am I missing my life? Am I spending too much time fantasizing about what I would like to happen to notice what's happening right in front of me? Truthfully, sometimes this is the case. I have such a rich imagination. It helped keep me from being lonely when I was a young, only child. My sister is 7 years younger. I spent at least 4 years before she was born and 3 - 4 years after, playing alone. I made up wonderful epic stories. I would daydream at school often because I was bored with the pace.
So, the other night I decided to ask this wonderful group of women I found myself in ~ what did they think about daydreaming? The answer was finally there. A young lady named Eli told me of her own experience with this Buddhist concept of staying present. It is not that you cannot daydream. It is that you choose when to do it. Do not use your daydreams to escape the present. Give yourself time to let your mind wander.
This made all of the difference to me! I know that all of the great thinkers attribute their daydreams to their innovative and creative thinking. So, I know it's not all bad. However, I could see how not chooseing your time to allow yourself that freedom could interfere with participating in your life.
Another woman expressed how she will sort of "check out" during conversations in a group because she gets lost in thought, missing when a new topic has been introduced. This observation explained to me why a woman I was acquainted with always seemed behind when we would all get together for a chat. She wasn't slow ~ she was lost in thought.
So, my challenge to you is to find time to daydream. Give yourself the freedom to make "illogical" leaps and take mental "flights of fancy". Your next journey on your path may be revealed to you. You may discover the solution to a problem getting "lost" in a daydream. And if not, it was a lovely way to spend 15 minutes while sitting at the DMV!
For those of you that could use daily doses of joy ~ please follow me on the twitter (Goddessofjoy). If you'd like to share your own experiences of joy, become a fan on facebook and post your own thoughts (The Joy of Being You)
Until next time my friends...
I found it right away. Psychology Today even has a blog dedicated to daydreaming (http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-daydreaming). I found articles galore discussing how helpful it was for sparking creativity. If you use different language and call it visualization, as some articles did, then it's an amazing tool to help prepare before performing a task or competing in athletics. Albert Einstein was a daydreamer. In fact, many great achievers throughout history were daydreamers. See I knew it!
Of course, I found some nay-sayers. I even found a website for parents warning about the consequences to their childrens' future. There were "warning signs" and tales of catastrophic events that happened to daydreamers. Still, I wasn't deterred.I was still sure I was right and had enough ammunition to prove my point.
Then I read an article in a psychology journal that stopped me in my smug little tracks. It brought up the Buddhist tennat about remaining present. As so many daydreams are about future desires or past occurences, when people spend a lot of time daydreaming they are losing their time experienceing the "now".
Okay now this was saying something. It got me thinking, when I daydream, am I missing my life? Am I spending too much time fantasizing about what I would like to happen to notice what's happening right in front of me? Truthfully, sometimes this is the case. I have such a rich imagination. It helped keep me from being lonely when I was a young, only child. My sister is 7 years younger. I spent at least 4 years before she was born and 3 - 4 years after, playing alone. I made up wonderful epic stories. I would daydream at school often because I was bored with the pace.
So, the other night I decided to ask this wonderful group of women I found myself in ~ what did they think about daydreaming? The answer was finally there. A young lady named Eli told me of her own experience with this Buddhist concept of staying present. It is not that you cannot daydream. It is that you choose when to do it. Do not use your daydreams to escape the present. Give yourself time to let your mind wander.
This made all of the difference to me! I know that all of the great thinkers attribute their daydreams to their innovative and creative thinking. So, I know it's not all bad. However, I could see how not chooseing your time to allow yourself that freedom could interfere with participating in your life.
Another woman expressed how she will sort of "check out" during conversations in a group because she gets lost in thought, missing when a new topic has been introduced. This observation explained to me why a woman I was acquainted with always seemed behind when we would all get together for a chat. She wasn't slow ~ she was lost in thought.
So, my challenge to you is to find time to daydream. Give yourself the freedom to make "illogical" leaps and take mental "flights of fancy". Your next journey on your path may be revealed to you. You may discover the solution to a problem getting "lost" in a daydream. And if not, it was a lovely way to spend 15 minutes while sitting at the DMV!
For those of you that could use daily doses of joy ~ please follow me on the twitter (Goddessofjoy). If you'd like to share your own experiences of joy, become a fan on facebook and post your own thoughts (The Joy of Being You)
Until next time my friends...
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