Green

Color. If you have been reading me for a while you already know how I feel about color. I love it.  I love how color can set a tone. I love how color triggers emotion and reaction. I love that color can effect your mood. Color is so powerful.

And, as noted previously, different colors have come to "represent" certain things. Of course, how one feels about color can be very personal and tends to be rooted in personal experience and cultures, i.e., in the west we view white with innocence/purity.

This week the color green has taken on new meaning to me and to so many others in my hometown/community. The green I am talking about is a bright green and it is being worn in my community this week to honor the life of a brave 15 year old, Ethan, who lost his long battle against cancer just a few days ago. Ethan's favorite color was green. Some say this green was the color of his type of cancer. I am not sure which it is - maybe it's both - but I prefer to think of it as Ethan's favorite color.

I have always liked green, I like that the color represents nature, life and vegetation. (It has other associations as well.) However, until this week, I did not pay much attention to the color green. I remember the bright emerald green earrings worn on the red carpet in Hollywood (I watch E!), I might wear green or notice it on St. Patrick's Day, and this fall season, green has been touted as a popular color in fashion. But, I had no real emotional reaction to green until now.

Now when I see someone outside the local coffee shop in a green t-shirt, I smile. I see bleachers full of kids and parents at our high school football game (our school colors are blue and gold) and I am touched with emotion. I see kids everywhere in a uniform of green. This mass of color is SO powerful. Now, to me, this particular green = love. Supportive, unconditional and happy love.

Using a color to show love and support for a brave young man has changed the way I will forever look at this green*. This is what I call positive color cause and effect.

*Exact pantone color unknown at this time but there is likely a range of greens that would trigger in me the emotion and reaction I have described above.