The Colors Of Our Lives
When my children were little, I’d dress them in bright colors whenever we traveled.
One day, while sitting at an airport with my daughter, who was about five or six years old, a young man commented on her colorful dress.
“I love her dress,” he said.
I smiled and replied, “I always dress my children in bright colors when we travel. It’s much easier to spot them in a crowd.”
He looked at me for a moment and said, “That’s really smart.”
At the time, it was simply practical.
Airports are busy places. So are train stations, museums, and city streets. Bright colors made it easy for me to find my children with one quick glance.
I’ve thought about that conversation many times since.
As parents, we naturally want our children to be easy to find.
As adults, something curious often happens.
Many of us slowly begin blending into the crowd.
Not because we want to disappear.
Life simply asks different things of us. We become busy caring for children, building careers, supporting partners, meeting expectations. Without realizing it, we sometimes stop choosing what delights us and start choosing what feels sensible.
A few years ago, a woman came to one of my intuitive painting classes with her adult autistic son. She had signed up for him, but throughout the class her attention remained on him.
He was happily painting.
She barely noticed herself.
I wanted her to have a good time too, so I invited her to paint with a color she didn’t like using only their fingers. Just to create a shift.
She automatically reached for brown.
“So you don’t like brown?” I asked.
“No,” she replied.
I looked at her and smiled.
“That’s interesting … because you’re always wearing brown.”
She looked down.
There was a long silence.
Then she smiled.
Something had shifted.
I’ve often wondered if our lives work like that.
Sometimes we don’t need a dramatic breakthrough.
Sometimes a little nudge is enough.
Painting has taught me to notice. To observe.
Not just colors on a canvas.
But the feelings they evoke.
Perhaps that’s why I still love bright colors.
Not because they stand out.
But because they remind me that being seen begins with seeing ourselves.
What catches your eye these days?
And what might it be quietly trying to tell you?
