The Color Conundrum

Colors are a fascinating aspect of life when considered in many different lights (sometimes literally). A common question to be found on almost every friendship questionnaire or something of a similar idea is "What is your favorite color?" Interestingly, I have rarely encountered an individual who could not instantly answer with a previously determined, and usually long-held, favorite. I am hardly exempt from my own example, having given "blue" as my favorite color since the age of approximately ten. However, very recently this has begun to change and it seems to me that this change has to do with more than simply a change in color preference, at least in how it is considered on the surface.

About a month after I arrived at college, I became aware of an unexplained and sudden attachment to the color orange. As usual, though, I did not just settle for thinking "Oh, I just like this color now, for absolutely no reason in particular." Instead, I tried to consider why exactly it was that I was suddenly drawn to this color. Finally, I came to the simple, yet slightly deeper reason, that I had begun to really enjoy orange because it was bright and cheerful, but in a richer sense than yellow. The adjustment to college was hard (as it is for almost any teenager, whether they admit it or not) and I felt myself desiring bright and cheerful things to assist my temperament positively - hence, my newfound love of orange.

In the last couple of weeks, I was surprised yet again to find myself inexplicably drawn to the color brown. Since I had fairly recently gone through my thought process considering the color orange, I deduced the probable cause for this new pleasure much quicker. Though my thoughts are not fully formed as of yet, I have come to the conclusion I am presently drawn to the warmth that I see in brown. I have come to consider it a very comforting and rich color. It is also possible that my new love is related to my consistent, deep, abiding love of nature and specifically trees. I have recently been pining for the trees and mountains of Colorado and of all the others states that have become so beloved to me. As I consider it further, this likely had considerable impact on my attraction to brown. The reason I do not allow it to be the sole reason is because I have loved and constantly desired to be around nature for as long as I can remember, yet this attraction to brown is very recent. So there must be another reason that sparked it at this moment in time. It is certainly something to consider further.

I find this thought process surrounding colors to be truly enlightening and fascinating in its own way. Clearly, there is more to it than meets the surface.