Physically speaking, color may affect mood as interior and industrial designers have proven. Take for example the hotel that I recently stayed. The huge lobby was decorated in muted orange, clay, and silver. The wall sconces shed soft light on the surroundings, the waterfall added the gentle sound of water running over rocks. This package of color, light and sound resulted in one important message:\u00a0 you will get a good night\u2019s sleep here.<\/p>\n
Psychologists tell us that we will eat larger helpings of food if the tableware or the walls are painted red.\u00a0 Blue walls will calm us, and yellow ones will cheer.<\/p>\n
However, my first encounter with color as symbolism was in the country of Haiti. It was 1980 and we were told not to wear the color red. It would be offensive and represented evil. Whether we had correct information, I don\u2019t know, but it certainly called my attention to the theme of color at a young age.\u00a0 I keep my radar on for the discovery of color. We can remind ourselves of its place in our individual cultures as it reflects nature, cheers, and holds symbolic meaning.<\/p>\n
Color to Cheer or for Self-expression<\/strong> My Persian friend describes her brother\u2019s return from their homeland. One thing he noted was the lack of color. Everywhere he went the women were dressed in the dark colors of black and brown and gray. Gone are the days of freedom where the colors nature were expressed in the head scarves and robes in public. It depressed him to see a whole nation lost the right to personal expression.<\/p>\n Color to reflect nature<\/strong> Color for meaning<\/strong> <\/p>\n Looking deeper than holiday colors, religions such as Buddhism of SE Asia holds to the robes of saffron, the Tibetan to maroon. At first the reason for the color was the availability of the dye, but over time the color orange or saffron took on a type of symbolism for the status of monk (sangha) and for Dharma itself. Light and illumination are themes in Buddhism to which the saffron robes could be pointing.<\/p>\n It is the funeral event that will dictate certain colors in various contexts.\u00a0 I remember when I was ordering flowers for my Filipino friend who lost a parent. I researched the colors heavily and found I should send white flowers to the grieving home.<\/p>\n Chinese friends reiterate the color of white at the funeral as well. In ancient China, white clothing and hats were worn to show mourning. In fact, the Chinese, especially the emperors had a Theory of Five Elements that was associated with a color for each:\u00a0 wood, fire, earth, metal, water. The Theory is so complex it could fill an entire book, and it would be interesting to find out to what degree this ancient theory affects modern art and culture.<\/p>\n In the old days, Europeans and their counterparts in North America also used black for mourning. In modern days, the predominance of the color white for the Chinese and the color black for the Westerner is fading. In China, it is the age at which the person passed away that might affect whether the grieving family and friends will wear white or not.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" < Physically speaking, color may affect mood as interior and industrial designers have proven. Take for example the hotel that I recently stayed. The huge lobby was decorated in muted orange, clay, and silver. The wall sconces shed soft light on the surroundings, the waterfall added the gentle sound of water running over rocks. This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[376,4,47,8],"tags":[254,327,328,329],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2340"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWhen my friend Martha Lord returned from living with her family for a year or two in England in the late 1970s, she described an embarrassing moment for her family. At that time in history–funny that 40 years pass and we can use the term \u201chistory\u201d–most everyone in England wore colors like grey, dark green, and black clothing. When her father walked into the library in bright green shorts, the librarian raised her eyebrows and said, \u201cIsn\u2019t that a bit brash?\u201d\u00a0 Now, however, England has embraced color to the extreme. Perhaps this move toward color is\u00a0 to cheer up the populace for long stretches of rainy days. However, it could mean freedom of expression.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG_0309.jpg\")
\nWhen I say colorful dresses, does the sari immediately come to mind? The nation of India is well known for its fabric and the vivid and vibrant dyes used to color them. Every shade of the tropics is seen in the peacock blues, the cherry reds and the flamingo pinks. Though each color associated with the sari can also be found in a creature or an aspect of nature, hiding within some of the colors will be symbols of religions and worldviews of the people.<\/p>\n
\nWhat party doesn\u2019t have a splash of color? The hostess sets the table and its surroundings with the colors of the holiday. In the States, a Fourth of July party will have the colors of the flag\u2014red, white, and blue\u2014for a show of national pride. In China at Spring Festival, the color red will be everywhere for good luck and prosperity.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/lori-canada-150-yrs-tim-horton-e1528335147768.jpg\")
\n\u201cThey used to have this year of mourning. Folks wore armbands, black clothes, played no music in the house.\u00a0 Black wreaths were hung at the front doors. The damaged were identified. For a full year you were allowed your grief\u2014the dreams and sleeplessness, the sadness, the rage\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n