Color Me... Not?

 by Charlotte Bennardo

by SlipcoverKAS .COM: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-of-soft-gray-fleece-blanket-texture-30399251/

The theme this month is color. Here is my pic.

But... it's gray.

I hate gray. To me, it's not a color, it's an indecision. When people tell me the color of their kitchen cabinets or their living room walls or their new car is gray, I wonder why they couldn't pick a color? Couldn't find the right shade of blue? It doesn't come in red? People will laugh at purple rugs?

I know designers will favor a white or cream aesthetic for their homes and black for their wardrobes because they are over saturated choosing and dealing with color all day. 

But... why not then one color? Caribbean blue? Peacock teal? Blush pink? Even with white, gray, or beige walls or furniture, why not a splash of color somewhere like pillows, pictures, rugs? A spot of joy amongst the blah?

That's what we need to relearn from children. They don't 'matchy-match' their clothes. If they want to wear the pink tutu with polka dot tights and their rainbow flip flops, they'll do it. And love it. They know what makes them happy. We lost that joy of color. Okay, we'll have a shirt in a stunning magenta that we wear on occasion, but everything else has to be muted, or complementary. Let's use the whole damn box of crayon colors and enjoy it. Every room in my house is a different color, although they are earthy and subdued shades, but I do have a raspberry-colored couch, my bedroom is in sunset colors, and my bathroom is terracotta. Every year or so my patio furniture is painted a new color: I've had royal blue, flamingo pink, sunny yellow, lime green, and Caribbean blue. Yeah, the table and chairs are black with beige webbing (yawn...yuck!) only because most people can't take a barrage of color. It's a shame.

The rule in our house is, no gray (stainless steel appliances notwithstanding). I bought my gray cat the brightest color collars. I don't own any gray clothes except for a pair of sweats which were my son's, but I shrunk them. I wear them for painting, so now they have color.

When the blahs of winter with all the drab grays and dull browns are ready to overwhelm me, bam! The daffodils and green onion grass start to sprout and I feel joy again. With spring and summer coming, so are more colors! 

Keep your palette ready and add that orange or purple or blue, or whatever that you love. 

Charlotte writes MG, YA, NA, and adult novels in sci fi, fantasy, contemporary, paranormal genres and now romance. She is the author of the award-winning middle grade Evolution Revolution trilogy, Simple Machines, Simple Plans, and Simple Lessons. She co-authored the YA novels Blonde OPS, Sirenz, and Sirenz Back in Fashion. She also has short stories in several anthologies. Having finished her MFA, she's applying what she learned and is revising several children's and adult novels. She lives in NJ with her family and her floofy cat. When they trimmed the backyard tree, the crazy squirrel couple had to move out, but she is happy to report she has a new squirrel tenant.