Friday, February 22, 2013

Hungry for color

There's no real mystery around why this image sang to me today.  It's school vacation week here, and most everyone I know has gone off to sunnier climes -- Mexico, Hawaii, Florida, the Bahamas, Capri, Jamaica -- all those places where the sky is blue, the light is strong, and the colors are clear and bright.

I remember learning, when we lived in Vermont, that the suicide rate there is at its highest in February, when everyone seems to get what we used to call "cabin fever."  And I think for all of us, no matter what the season, there come those times when we grow extremely tired of our own company, when life seems gray and colorless and we just want to be somewhere else.

I could say that running away doesn't really help.  Because when we step off the plane a week later, the sky is still gray, the rain is still driving at the windows.  But somehow the memory of the warmth and color can help tide us over into spring.  So -- if you can't skip off to warmer climes, how will you give your heart a break today?  What might feed your eyes and soul; give you the boost you need to weather the rest of winter?  What can you read, or visit, or create today; what kindness can you do for someone else that might bring a burst of color into both your lives?

3 comments:

Cheryl said...

Have you ever been hungry for the lack of color? Somehow in my mind, the lack of color, the dreariness of the days, the low visibility, the lack of warmth at times calls to me as it is a quiet time to me, a time for being with myself, a time for inner reflection. You posted a photo a while back that had me longing for a vacation and I was all for showing up on your doorstep so that I could be immersed in that lack of color with a like minded soul. I went so far as to look over my vacation days, check out Bainbridge Island, think about who to borrow a camera from and then reality showed up...I still yearn for that inner release that apparently I think I can only get on Bainbridge Island.

Diane Walker said...

Yes, it’s true, the colors here are much softer, and though I crave the bright this time of year I would grow tired of it very quickly — plus I love the luxury of cool (not cold or hot) weather and a life spent in fleece and turtlenecks...

I hope you come to Bainbridge sometime; but then, I also hope we live up to your expectations! Where do you live?

Cheryl said...

Denver Colorado...

Someone asked me today via email if I was enjoying my inside day, told her I would enjoy it more if it didn't also involve outside shoveling!