The Magic of Colors

CEBU, Philippines — Colors! A visual word loaded with various meanings and their corresponding emotions. Colors make people fully experience the beauty and art of the world.

How would the world look without colors?  Everything is monochromatic, bland.  What a desolate sight. This is the reason why some people love to watch the sunrise. The bursting yellow rays seem to plant a sense of positivity in those watching it – a warm welcome for another day. In Psychology, yellow represents cheerfulness and optimism. No wonder the color tends to perk up a weary person.

But it is not always joy and positivism that one experiences with colors. Black, which is perceived to represent sadness, brings feelings of loss and hopelessness.  To some it represents hideous secrets. This color even prompts people to probe the dark side, their hidden desires and wishes.  Black suggests a kind of wall that one uses to hide one’s ugly truths.

In a way, black means a restriction of the free spirit, which is a sad thing to experience. To hide something of oneself can be emotionally suffocating. It hinders the self from flourishing – from fully being – and, thus, depressing.

And there is the color red, which represent boldness and jubilation, or bold jubilation. Red projects power, too, as it does passion and determination.  In fashion, for example, a red outfit exudes self-assurance and confidence.

Almost everyone associates the color white with purity and innocence.  This is why someone who wears white often easily captures another’s trust and friendship.  White represents goodwill and peace, as well.

Yet one’s own meanings and interpretations of colors can be a very personal matter. This is especially so when a person’s perception of colors had been conditioned by certain significant experience in childhood. There’s a person that feels great emotional pain when seeing the color red – because it reminds her of an accident that cost the life of her parents. And there’s another that rejoices at the sight of the color black – because the big toy airplane he got as a gift on his fourth birthday was wrapped in black.

In the end, colors – whatever thoughts or emotions they may individually represent – make the world look and life feel much more interesting. – Iris Hazel Mascardo,NORSU Communications Intern