COLOR ME BOLD!

Colors remind me that I can create my story in whatever shade I want.

As I celebrated my birthday this past week [much of it spent outdoors in the park, walking on the beach, and watching the birds come take a dip in the backyard pool] I couldn’t help thinking about how much I enjoyed the resplendent palate of Mother Nature which got me thinking about the way I absolutely love colors….and love to wear those colors!

Colors both energize and soothe me. Whenever I wear blue for example, I feel like I am wearing the ocean; its beauty, its magnificent force; the ebb and flow and the rhythm that’s in sync with my beating heart. Then there is the green in the landscape that takes me back to the gynep tree in my grandmother’s yard loaded with memories of long summer days spent swinging in that tree with my siblings and cousins while we devoured the fruit from the laden branches. This love of green nudges me often to reach for that deep green ring I bought in Cuba last year which I often pair with the soft fluctuating shades of green in the bracelet I bought in Chania, Greece the year before.  Not only do these variegated shades energize me but they also become symbolic of the fantastic experiences I had in these countries. Might this obsessive love of color be a manifestation of my Afrocentric heritage, I often ask myself? A woman born under the brilliance of the Jamaican sun whose ancestry is rooted in the distant continent of the Motherland.

Oh how I love the corrugated resplendent colors of the Jamaican landscape, shamelessly beautiful and intoxicating in its invitation. I am mesmerized by the variegated tones of orange from the corals to the tangerines and red splashes of sunset as I watch the evening steal across the sky while I sit and look out at the horizon from my mother’s verandah. Tropical, sultry and definitely with an attitude, orange offers an expansive palate to choose from. I experience such a sense of vibrancy when I drape myself in these tones, defying any challenges that may come my way that day.

As much as colors excite my spirit, they also calm and cool. The white walls of my bedroom for example, are often a striking contrast to the rich bold colors I may enrobe myself on any given day, offering comfort and a chance to slow down.

Colors remind me that I can create my story in whatever shade I want. Sometimes I wear colors as a way of dreaming out loud without saying a word to anyone. I can walk around in creative bliss and simply Color Myself Bold!