Color Therapy. Sort Of.

The way colors interact has always been super interesting. Ok colors in general are. But let me explain. In painting – when you want to make some blues really pop, you add a splash of orange somewhere on the canvas, if you’re mixing colors and want to tone down a red, you add a touch of green. I could go on and on and really bore (or perhaps fascinate) you. I took a few classes on it and love going through those old notebooks.

Then, there’s the way we interact with color – their meanings and the effects they have on us. Or why we might gravitate towards a few of them (ahem, blue and orange over here) It’s not only soothing but pretty darn intriguing to read about, really. Example: Why do we love starting at a clear turquoise ocean? Well, turquoise is supposed to help create emotional balance and stability.  Also, there’s a reason rocking a bold red lip makes one feel like a bad ass.

So, I thought it’d be cool to quickly cruise around the color wheel, dig through my photo archive and give a l’il dose of whatever color therapy you might be needing at the moment. Each color really has a certain emotional benefit or personality I guess.

Yeah, I know you could just google this all, but hey, this kind of stuff is amusing, and it’s a mildly therapeutic read, which we all could use right now.

I’ll stick with the main ROYGBIV ones here, or else this would be a book. 

Ready, set, as Rupal said, “Life is about using the whole box of crayons.”

RED: Red is one feisty and fierce mo-fo. It’s emotionally intense and is often associated with energy, adventure, strength, determination, passion, and, here’s a shocker, love. So, if you’re feeling blah and need a pick me up, or want to feel amped up…here’s some red. (And go grab that bold lipstick.)

ORANGE: Orange is red’s less aggressive, happier cousin. I’d like to think it has a sunflower farm somewhere in Montana. It’s associated with joy and the tropics, (now you know why I use orange so much) also represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, and encouragement. Among many other things. So, here’s some orange. Chances are it’ll be a mood boost.

YELLOW: Yellow is the Marsha Brady of the color wheel. It’s associated with sunshine, happiness, intellect, positivity, creativity, and energy. It evokes pleasant, cheerful feelings, stimulates mental activity, and chances are after staring at it you’ll feel like you suddenly want to play the guitar and run around in a sundress. So yeah, here’s a permagrin, courtesy of yellow.

GREEN: If there was a color that would pick up and roam the world in a camper van, green would be it. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and is just a pretty darn restful color to stare at (Literally. It’s the easiest on our eyes) It also suggests stability and endurance, and the best way to get a hefty dose of it’s benefits is to just get out in nature. Or in this case, these pics.

BLUE: Ohhh blue, it’s like it’s a therapist, friend, and cool relative with a beach house, all in one. Being the color of the sky and sea, it’s associated with depth, stability and purpose. It also symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, and truth. Yeah. Blue kiiiind of set the bar pretty high for the rest of the wheel. ‘Twas easy to find some for ya…I’m biased. I love blue.

PURPLE: Purple is that really cool friend who teaches hot yoga, bakes awesome sourdough, and goes on rad trips – Purple combines the stability of blue and the energy of red. It symbolizes power, nobility, luxury, and ambition. But it also is associated with wisdom, dignity, independence, imaginati0n, and spirituality. It gives a hefty dose of motivation and creativity. Yum.

There you go.

Consider my first art therapy/color meaning class, donezo.

Hopefully it explains why I might be wearing the entire color wheel tomorrow.