The Daily Write
What Color Gives You Hope That the Setting Sun Will Rise Again?
Hint: It’s not green
Jun 6: What’s your favorite color?
The answer comes without hesitation: Orange has been my favorite color…forever. It’s one of these features so ingrained in me that I never stop questioning why?
Orange was always there, one way or another, even though I navigated a period of grays, dark blues, and blacks during my late teens and early twenties. This ‘cheerless’ dress code reflected my exaggerated need to be unseen.
It was only recently that a colleague asked me, “Why such an attraction to orange?” She noticed my tendency to select orange tones when preparing slides for my students, and I started to explore the reasons behind my love-at-first-sight relationship with the orange-yellow-ish palette.
“Orange is red brought nearer to humanity by yellow.” ― Wassily Kandinsky
Why?
- It’s the color of the Universe’s infrared spectrum, which warms us up and ensures life as we know it. It’s the color of the healing infrared light.
- Orange is the color the sun chooses to announce its majestic appearance every day and the last trail it leaves behind when the night comes.
- It’s the color of African sunsets– one of my top ‘5 wonders to enjoy’ in this lifetime: to witness a sunset in Kenia atop Mount Kilimanjaro.
- My favorite fruits are oranges, grapefruits, pomegranates, mandarins, etc. A coincidence? Orange is the pigment linked to vitamins and antioxidants and connects nutrition and life.
- The whole orange, golden, and yellow range is the palette Nature handpicks to decorate its leaves to welcome Autumn —my favorite season. Every year, I surrender to this outburst of beauty.
- It’s the primary color symbolizing the bounty of the harvest fall: pumpkins, carrots, squashes, etc. These grounding foods balance our energy, which is essential in this mind-driven society.
- Orange is the color of the Sacral chakra (Svadhisthana), the one linked to passion, sexuality, emotions, and creativity — Yes! I’m all in!
- It sparks life in a painting or room but never becomes the primary tone.
Use orange carefully
We should use orange sparingly. Too much can be overwhelming and may trigger rejection.
It’s the nuanced orange brush stroke that attracts attention. When too prominent, the initial magnetism may turn into a danger alert (another of the orange negative associations), thus repulsion.
There is no blue without yellow and without orange.” ― Vincent Van Gogh
Where is orange in my life?
- In my piano room: orange, black (the piano), earthy palette, and plants. That’s the corner where I disappear.
- Many of my notebooks– and I am talking about a lot.
- Postcards– I end up choosing the orange-ish ones. I cannot help it!
- Paintings, posters, and candles with citric scent.
- In my photo profile on Medium — yes, the background is the wall of the piano room :)
- My bird’s feathers.
- My dog’s favorite ball — this was unintended. He stole it in the park. I have a huge basket full of stolen balls over 14 years, but that’s another story.
When is orange a no-no?
I rarely wear something orange. It’s too much, too obvious, too much attention — I tend to suffer from attention aversion.
Exceptions?
An orange bikini, an orange summer T-shirt with a handmade embroidered mandala… — Life is all about orange subtleties.
Key messages:
‘The sky takes on shades of orange during sunrise and sunset, the color that gives you hope that the sun will set only to rise again.” ― Ram Charan
Orange sparks joy for life. It’s the uplifting soul color.
