5 Ways Colors Can Make Us Feel Better
How colours affect our mood
What does it need? Giorgi asks as he finishes up the traditional Georgian stew.
I have a look, I have a taste and it is quite obvious that it needs a carrot.
No, carrot does not go with this, he gruntles.
Yellow capsicum then, I say.
No!, after which I throw my hands in the air laughing.
He glances over at the salad I am preparing, lifting an eyebrow as I sprinkle the fresh pink peppercorns over the top to finish off my masterpiece.
I smile with utter pride and satisfaction.
Of course, if you ask for my opinion, I will always add some colour, to everything.
No Ordinary Plate
Eating with our eyes.
My food not only has to be tasty — it also needs to speak of happy colours.
Always green, if not inside the dish, then on the side. Or a yellow, orange, perhaps a red.
In addition, I make sure that I get to choose from a variety of colourful chopsticks to eat with.
Unless it is soup, I eat all my food with chopsticks.
At present the king blue pair with gold engravings, is getting preference, pairing up with the traditional blue and white Portuguese porcelain plates.
Add the ricotta ravioli with burnt sage butter for some deep teal and off whites.
I choose my restaurants the same.
There has to be colour and ambience.
It starts with a first impression, moving on to the layout, crockery, décor, stretching as far as the eye can see with a view of a mountain, ocean, or narrow cobbled stone streets.
Slap on A Red Dress Or Not?
Birds of a feather?
When it comes to clothes, I allow my mood to choose for me.
It truly changes with the seasons.
Red I enjoy wearing on occasion, like Christmas or when I fancy my vintage dress for a night out on the town.
I recently bought a beautiful red nighty — now it’s an after-work favourite as the pandemic times have me stay in more often.
There is some resistance towards the colour purple, after my friend Auriol had told me that it symbolizes sexual frustration.
It is indeed worth noting what certain colours are telling us about our limiting beliefs so that we can remove these mental blocks.
Back in The Kitchen
Are we living out of our imagination?
Giorgi continues, “What’s your favourite style of home decor?” and without hesitation, I shout, “Bali!”.
The mix of raw materials and vibrant colours had me staring into space, daydreaming of Persian carpets and eclectic bright coloured furnishes.
“Live out of your imagination, not your history.” ―Stephen R. Covey
Happiness and Fractals
A little bit of science.
What makes us smile is colouring in our lives, such as the promise of the blank canvas, or the empty lines of a colouring book.
We are each a canvas to fill with colour, with happy colours.
Why is the sun yellow?
Why do sunsets speak of warmth?
Why is it that love and passion range in colour from red to pink and why is it that the colour green speaks of fresh new life?
I believe in fractals.
According to new science, these fractals are what our lives are made up of. Leonardo da Vinci recognised these fractals in trees and branches and Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai was the master of the creation The great wave off Kanagawa, a colourful exhibit of a large wave breaking off into small pieces. It is about adding colour to the geometry that makes for the full experience.
Polish-born Benoit Mandelbrot formulated fractal mathematics. It has inspired scientists, artists and musicians and continue to do so.
The whole universe is fractal, and so there is something joyfully quintessential about Mandelbrot’s insights. — Jack Challoner, BBC News Science writer
How To Enhance Our Mood With Colour:
DIY Tips on Taste and Colour
It has been no secret that colours affect mood. I thought I would encourage all to enhance their mood to one of happiness through taste and colour.
- Many times we put things in our mouths that should not be there. Assess how you feel when you eat something. Tune into your body and feel for the answers. Perhaps you feel great as you crave chocolate. Eat it if you want to, yet feel how you feel whilst you eat it and after you have eaten the chocolate. Do you want to feel like this?
- Once you identify something which lowers your vibration and affects your mood negatively, write it down, as we forget easily. Rest assured that there is a myriad of fruit, vegetables and dishes of all kinds which can potentially satisfy your palette for centuries to come. Set the intention to discover these and you will find them and enjoy them.
- Evaluate your living space, be it a home, apartment or office. Stand still in it for 20 minutes, better yet, lie on the floor or carpet and let your eyes wander. Pay attention to how you feel when you see colour. Do not rush this process. Feel for it and listen to what the colours are communicating to you.
- Once you have identified which colours bring you the most joy, incorporate them into your spaces and into your life. Allow them to help you, assist you, especially in this time where we spend more time indoors. Choose that which rejuvenates you, increases your energy and simply put a smile on your face.
- Go through your wardrobe and do the same as mentioned above. Scan your clothes, you will instinctively know which colours need to go into storage or recycled. Trust your intuition.
- Become consciously aware of what each colour in your daily experience is trying to communicate to you. Everything in this Universe was created with purpose, also the colours. Yes, they are there to please the eye, yet there is so much more to it.
Aristotle developed the first known theory of colour.
He believed it was sent by God.
For him, colours either are or possess causal powers.
It is time to shake off the darkness, bring in the light, let it catch our prism and show us our potential.
Focus where it is easy to focus.
Find opportunities and possibilities.
Embrace the simplicity and the power of happy colours and tastes.
The Promise of A New Era
New thoughts, new perspectives.
When we change our perception our whole world changes.
