COUNTING BLESSINGS

BRING COLOR INTO LIFE

I cant stop thinking about color.  It is another great puzzle in my life.  Yesterday I went to buy a set of cubes to sit beside my chair.  I am painting a lot of little things, for miniatures,sitting in my living room chair at night.  I found myself in a red space. Sorta.  After some time I did find a set of cubes.  I had a choice: dark brown, black, or white.  I looked for the boxes that go into the cubes.  I found black, tan, soft lime, soft aqua and pink. The colors were muted. I then spent the next hour in Target looking for color. My living space is made of yellows and I wanted more perky.  Everywhere I went women's clothes, towels, curtains, rugs..... shades of diaper brown, white, cream, black and gray. 

I stopped an unsuspecting clerk and chatted about my observation.  She was about nineteen and decided to explain it to me.  I was, of course on my borrowed target scooter, my hair all white, no tattoos(yet), and  no piercings except in my ears properly.  She had decided that I could not hear, needed a very loud voice, and that I only came out of my haunt when i could be let out by my caretakers.  I do like to open a dialog with unsuspecting people and watch them walk away shaking their heads.  I have plenty of time and I know they must listen to me.  Gives me great sport.

She told me that , today, most people didn't use color in their house.  They simply used the "neutrals"  and only occasionally put in a splash of muted color. She seemed so assured.  I asked her why?   It took a few minutes because I do believe that critical thinking was way above her pay grade. I knew I should move on.  I had already said enough. I had caused enough psychological damage.  I could sense that she couldn't wait for break to describe this long encounter with the old gray fool.  I do not act in this way when my family is with me. Their embarrassment is quite severe.

I left still in a quandary.  It brought me back to my move from my condo in Raleigh when the realtor told me that the place would never sell with my beautiful brass fixtures (they needed to be brushed metal of a grayish color) and the beautiful yellow walls must take on a neutral color and my carpets should be removed and off white or neutral be put in.  I could never make a point that my house was furnished in colonial hence the brass, and yellow made me happy.

I decided to search and find out why we are so much in a colorless/muted place.  I found one source gave these enlightenment's.  It seems to simply come down to political correctness .  Seems we need to make sure when we wish to sell our places, entertain in them, or have our children or guests feel comfortable, we need to maintain NEUTRALITY. We try not to be offensive.  I guess I did lie to you when I said I was not being political today. 

Help me understand why.... Why we are leaning toward neutrality.

Let me share some color with you....

Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions. - Pablo Picasso

While perceptions of color are somewhat subjective, there are some color effects that have universal meaning. Colors in the red area of the color spectrum are known as warm colors and include red, orange and yellow. These warm colors evoke emotions ranging from feelings of warmth and comfort to feelings of anger and hostility. Colors on the blue side of the spectrum are known as cool colors and include blue, purple and green. These colors are often described as calm, but can also call to mind feelings of sadness or indifference.

 Lets whoop up on the color in our lives.  Lets feel the emotions of color.  Lets take chances.   We may end up poor,and not emotionally safe. That is what gives us a vital life.

The Blog is Back

The Blog is Back !!!

Today is April 9, 2012.  I have not posted in many months and find it is time again to begin again.  My journals and other projects seem to come and go.  It is an election year and I think I will document my thoughts about this process. I do feel an obligation to say a few things about myself.  There are some of you who do not know that I am and old lady of years, 1935 was a good year. I am older than most trees and younger than almost all rocks.

 I have had some life experiences that will color what I say.  I grew up with my grandparents and learned the values of the depression and old time religion.  I lived in a time that men were drafted and came back ready to face life.  I marched with Martin Luther King in the fifties, I demonstrated in the seventies for women's rights, and I worked on electing Obama.  I spent three years in Saudi Arabia and traveling to ten countries most were Islamic. I taught cross cultural survival, Shari'a law as it applies to health care, and management in a multi cultural setting.  I traveled in all states surveying or consulting in over 700 hospitals.  My thoughts and beliefs, politically, are based on my experiences.  We are all prisoners of our own experiences.  I will remain a prisioner unless you help me escape.

I am quite distressed that many people, even most people, cannot discuss politics without it being arguing.  I learned very early in my educational life (in high school in Louise Smith's senior English class and virtually ever class at Duke), that healthy exchange of ideas and beliefs is one of the things that made this country great.  It was the one thing that made us so different from many other civilizations. Being able to hear someone else in intellectual exchange is what makes me great. We do not seem to be able to do this anymore.  We have become so POLITICALLY CORRECT that we cannot even talk to our own folks about the issues.  Seems people are so afraid that they will offend they remain silent.  Now here comes my favorite quote....

“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crises maintain their neutrality”. Dante

This quote has been paraphrased by many.  Substituting the word SILENCE for neutrality.  But you get the point.  Most of the silence is based on fear.  That others will take it out on us.  They wont continue to be our friend.  The list goes on.  It is a sad time when there are those who are actually afraid for their life.  To me the scariest thing in the world is limiting my freedom of speech.

Of course, we must all be responsible when we hold forth with our opinions.  We must to the best of our ability search for truth and talk in truths as we know them.  Being responsible in regard to our facts, to me,  means that if you watch Fox you must also watch MSNBC.  If you listen to Rush you must also listen to Michael Moore.  If you think that a certain person would be a good president, then you have knowledge of their values and abilities. You must seek out the news  on PBS, Al Jazeera ,BBC, as well as the ones we know so well.  You must have read the Bible and the Koran if you want to tell others what either of them teach.

My blog has turned the corner to seriousness, controversy and generally stirring shit.  It will hopefully be enjoyed by folks of all ages.  I would love to see the set-in-their-ways people to get un-sot.  I will promise to offend all of you and every politician.  Every post will not be political, some may just be nonsense.

Things to Think Upon...for today.

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