These are from Ali’s 31 More Things class. More context here.
So here’s my day three – color.
(journaling below)
Journaling:
For the longest time, my favorite color didn’t really mean much to me. When I was little, it was purple and then as an adult I liked blue. I feel like most adults say “blue” if they don’t actually have a favorite color. Like it’s the generic go-to favorite color. So, blue, it was.
A few years ago, there was a shift after a month of scrapbooking, where I realized I loved bright, happy colors. I loved all the colors, but in their brightest versions. Give me turquoise, yellow, red, green, pink, any day. I loved them all. Especially the happy yellow. Orangey yellow became my favorite color. After that, I changed my wardrobe to include a lot of Desigual dresses. They seem to reflect my love of color perfectly.
And then there was another major shift last year. I did a visualization exercise where I was talking to my future self. When I did the exercise, I realized this future self was living in a mostly white and glass room overlooking the sea. There were some neutral elements, too, but the white really stood out to me. There seemed to be a strong link between the calmness of this future self and the color white. The impact of this exercise was so strong that I started buying white or clear things. I changed my art table to only have clear or white containers. I changed my bedsheets and covers to be completely white. I even changed my daily Moleskines to be white (but kept a few of my favorite yellow ones, too.) And the change has been profound. The white does indeed make me feel calmer. I love it’s clean, crisp look. And I really love how it makes all the other colors pop that much more.
Looking back, I had already realized this many years ago, when I changed all my scrapbook pages to have white backgrounds, when I realized that I didn’t like painting the background of my sketch or art journal pages. I’ve always liked the white base. I love the way the true colors show, shine and pop when placed on a white surface. This year, I’ve even bought three white dresses with bold, bright colors on them. I love being surrounded by all the white. It’s amazing how much that little exercise changed my day to day life.
One of the best things about living in California is the number of sunny days in the year. The sun has the same effect in my life that white surfaces do: it makes all the colors brighter and happier. It helps me see that my life is so full of color and joy. And I am grateful for that reminder every single day.
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