Green Serene

I just returned from another invigorating and clarifying walk. Unlike yesterday, the sun was not out and the sky was pure grey. So in an effort to lift my mood, I bundled up and headed up to the beautiful Roanoke Park neighborhood at the north end of Capitol Hill.

I had an Aha moment, actually several, during my walk. (As I have said before, I do my best thinking when I’m outside on a walk.)

In an effort to calm my mind and clear the mental clutter, I decided to focus on the color green. Everywhere I looked I saw green. I used it as a focal point during my walk to calm my thoughts and anxieties. Kind of like a focal point used during childbirth or while doing pirouettes in ballet. Every time my mind wandered I refocused on green. Bright green moss on the freeway overpass, shiny emerald green laurel leaves, bright green grass, dark green boxwood, green houses, front doors in all shades of green from bright lime to shiny hunter to light sage, green flower pots, green awnings, green garden hoses, green garbage cans and recycling bins, green Amazon Fresh boxes and green street signs. Even the fire hydrants and the slide and swings at the park are green. I think you get the picture. We are surrounded by green. I guess we have the Seattle rain (and sun!) to thank for this. And now I finally get why this beautiful place is called the Emerald City. Everything (almost!) is green here.

As I was focusing on green, I felt calmer and the word serene popped into my head. So, like with pink and orange, I decided to do a bit of research to find out the meaning of green.

Meaning of Green

Not surprisingly, green is the color of nature, fertility and life. Grass green is the most restful color. Green symbolizes self-respect and well being and is the color of balance. It also means learning, growth and harmony. Green is a safe color.

Green contains the powerful energies of nature, growth and desire to expand or increase. Balance and a sense of order are found in the color green. Change and transformation is necessary for growth.

Wow, I can see why I was drawn to green today. I’m in a state of change and transformation. Yay, green!

One of my Favs

For more than a decade, my favorite color was green. I graduated from hunter green in the early 90s to lime green in the mid and late 90s and into the current millennium. But somehow orange has pushed out green as my favorite right now. Orange is fiery and green is calming. The Yin and Yang of colors?  So today in pursuit of more calm and serenity, I am going to replace the gorgeous hot pink and orange Hermes scarf my wonderful husband gave me for Valentine's Day with a green vintage Hermes scarf. I am curious to see how it makes me feel. Just thinking about it makes me feel calm.

The other Aha moment I had was that I want to study color theory to dig deeper into how colors affect us. And I am also going to dust off my personal mission statement that I wrote a mere month ago. How soon we can become unfocused. This mission is grounding and calming and clarifying to me. And my mantra makes it real.

My mission is to live a beautiful and balanced life – inside and out –

 inspired by color and creativity.

My mantra: “Make it matter!”

What is your favorite color? How does it make you feel?

Do you have a personal mission statement? If not, it's a great thing to do.

Aah, the calmest room in my house - my green bedroom.