April's Journal Prompt
(No. 56) A prompt in which you're invited to pay attention to the colors you're drawn to in this season and listen.
“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it. People think pleasing God is all God cares about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.”
—Alice Walker, The Color Purple
In the spring, color returns to the world again. After months of dormancy, the first pops of color delight and reawaken us.
I recently came across a quote from Dr. Shivani Khetan, an expressive arts therapist, that explains the relationship between color, art, and healing:
“Colorful artwork can trigger the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and reward, leading to feelings of happiness and well-being.”
Viewing something colorful, like artwork or a landscape of spring flowers, can boost our moods. Certain colors can make us feel happier, relaxed, mindful, and soothed.
Certain hues are calming, while others are energizing.
Have you ever noticed the impact color has on your life?
Lately, I’ve noticed that the same color palette keeps capturing my attention. In this season, I’m continuously drawn to golden, mustard-like yellows and colors in the plum/fuschia family.
I’m finding these colors in the lemons and their flower buds on my lemon tree, the oil pastels I’m picking for my paintings, my purple Rhodia notebook next to the basket of lemons on my table, my favorite knit sweater in plum and my manicure color choice, Golden Afternoon by Olive & June, the Magnolia Home plum paint color I chose for a recent furniture makeover, the yellow daffodils in the bud vases around my house.
Plums and yellows are appearing everywhere in my life like repeated brush strokes of joy.
Coincidentally, or maybe not, these two colors also appear in my Tiny Brand color palette and Pen & Mend logo.
I don’t know about you, but when I encounter something repeatedly, I start paying attention.
What is the meaning of all of this? I wonder.