The last time I went to my talk therapist I was wearing a coral t-shirt and fuchsia cardigan with my jeans. Yes, yes I was. This is a fairly normal thing for me to do though some people would snub me for it. My therapist has come to expect me to wear vivid colors, since that's what I do, but that day, I reminded her of a cult leader from Antelope, Oregon in the 1980s. He has a very long Indian name, not unlike Rajesh Koothrapali, only not that. My therapist remembered it after I don't know how many years, but I frankly can't be bothered to remember it. IF you're interested, Google Antelope, OR and you'll find the guy.
Anyway, he had a ton of women (like cult leaders do) and they were instructed to "dress in the colors of the sun." Often this was red, orange, and popular cult color saffron, but included pinks, corals, and purples, too.
Now, I don't hold any truck with cults and their misogynistic leaders, but dressing in the colors of the sun doesn't sound like a bad idea to me. This week our weather forecast is nothing but cold and rain, thunder and fog. Sounds to me like the perfect week to dress in the colors of the sun! So I got my laundry done, making sure to have plenty of sunny options for the next several days. I have layers (since temps will be below normal aaallll week), t-shirts, sweaters, cardigans, sweatshirts; pinks, purples, coral and orange; solids, stripes, patterns and textures. I even have some sky blues thrown in for variety.
The color I shan't be wearing in any variation will be black. No muted shades, no muddy browns, no drab colors of any kind. Well, I may have to wear black jeans, but nothing dark on top. At all. Anything near my face will be bright, sunny and spring-like. I don't have a lot of pastels, but I'll layer them in there. I'll mix colors in unexpected ways and clash like a field of riotous wild flowers.
Something about being bold in color makes me bold in action and attitude. Everyone has something that does it for them. For some people it's a single, signature item or color. For others it's a variety of a type of item. I have a friend who collects very unusual and colorful eyeglasses that go with anything he wears. That's his thing.
Do you have a thing? Do you know if you have a thing? I think it's entirely possibly to have a thing and not really be aware of it. The people you are around will know what it is. They're going to notice, "Hey, when Ralph wears his navy blue suit, he exudes confidence, not so much in the grey one." "Penelope is really take-charge when she wears that emerald green blouse that matches her eyes." For some its a pattern, for others, a scent.
It's weird, isn't it, how we attach power to these things. People and their respective institutions have spent major coin, probably millions of dollars to study the effects of colors, aromas, patterns, and textures on people, but it's so subjective. You have as many reactions to stimuli as there are people. For me, bright colors have boldness and power in them. I love prints and brocades. I'm fascinated by tapestries and the textiles of a wide variety of cultures, though I have to say Indian paisleys are a favorite and Indonesian batiks. I have a few Kurti that I love to wear and they're all (surprise) brightly colored. With the exception of one green one, they are all colors of the sun. I also just made a cotton top best described as a short caftan that is a diamond print in orange, purple, red, black and marigold. The fabric screamed at me from across the store. I swear I only went in to buy thread.
I think it's tempting to look out the window at the rain and pull on some dark, dreary shroud to blend with the clouds. I'm guilty of it. But I've been veiled for a long time and not living my truth. I'm not saying that everyone needs to look like they stepped off the train with the rest of the circus, as I'm sure people must think I sometimes do, but everyone should find their thing. Go find yours.
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