orange is the happiest of colors

I have found myself more and more drawn to the color orange over the past few years. I had spent most of my life avoiding all shades of this color, but at some point in the past two years I started bringing more and more orange into my life. It's fascinating to me how one's taste in color can change drastically over time, just as one's taste for certain foods.

It all began with an impulse purchase while I was living in San Francisco. I had gotten rid of all my winter items when I moved to California, symbolically shedding the life I had known on the East coast and starting anew. But then I decided to make a trip back home for Christmas and realized that I would need a winter jacket if I was going to survive the elements. Since this was a last minute purchase, all the popular and more appealing colors of jackets were sold out. So I selected what deceivingly looked like a pinkish light orange on my computer screen. Computer screens lie. I know this now.

When the jacket arrived I discovered that I was now equipped with hunting apparel.....it was a shockingly bright orange, bordering on neon, and I had no choice but to wear it because I was leaving for the east coast in the morning. I kept the tags on thinking I'd wear it on my trip and return it afterwards so as to prevent any further scorching of retinas. But I never returned the jacket, and somewhere along the way I fell in love with it. My husband even mentioned it in his wedding vows....how could I possibly not love it now?

I have since found myself introducing more and more orange into my life. They say that this color calls to mind feelings of enthusiasm, warmth, friendliness, and joy. Given the way I feel when surrounded by orange, I'd agree that it evokes all those emotions. Now here's the part that finally connects to a posting of autumn foliage photos: I always feel enthusiastic, warm, friendly, and happy when the leaves begin to change color. I literally smile when driving down a foliage laced road. The feeling is quite overwhelming actually. And this fall I began to connect all of this: orange and the joy it makes me feel, and the fall season dripping with its vibrant orange splendor....color psychology. There are numerous reasons other than the foliage that I love and enjoy the fall, but I can't help but notice that my energy changes when I am outside, completely surrounded by orange.

At any rate, this is the sort of thing that bounces around my head at random.