Two Crayons
On Monday’s Wordpress blog post we talked about limiting beliefs that hold us back. What of limiting judgements that keep us from seeing the whole picture? I’ve heard many say they refuse to live in a red state, have even known some to move from one to the other to find a home in a more welcoming environment. I can relate, but I also know there are more than just two crayons in the box. Even if there were three primary colors, the world would be composed of the infinite combinations, shaded and lightened with the addition of white and black crayons. The world is made up of a fuzzy ill-defined rainbow of colors, no matter how hard we try to categorize and simplify into either or. I am certainly guilty of pronouncing others as all of one thing based on a simple statement they voice, or flag they fly or hat they wear. They must be completely one color in all aspects of their lives, right? Wrong.
Of course that is wrong. I know that, yet as much as I try to eschew symbols and prejudicial judgement based on appearance, I am human and fall prey to those Limiting Beliefs. How can I learn or train myself to see the rainbow of wonder that each person represents? Admittedly it is difficult (impossible for me) to view certain world leaders as anything but evil based on the hate-filled and fear-based agendas they promote, often through bully tactics of the worst kind. Even they must have colorful dots struggling to break free of the lightless, lack-of-all-color spectrum. Finding none, I put my head in the sand and seek beauty and color in my own small corner of the world, even within this very red state, a label applied based on voting records and bills and laws enacted by the controlling powers.
Yet I live in a world that daily assaults me with infinite color, symbolically as well as in 3-D living. We have a wondrous tree in our new back yard that is currently aflame with red. No, scratch that, the leaves have turned every shade of red that resides on the long end of the rainbow. From a short distance you might say it is red, but up close there are spots and dips of yellows and oranges, even greens on the leaves yet to turn.
This tree is a symbol of possibility and wonder. I am thankful for this new addition to our lives: a back yard and a flaming tree. Our last house had a tiny footprint that didn’t allow for a yard. The few trees outside our windows did not change with the seasons. Still, they were many shades of green.
It is human nature to name and label and categorize. It helps us make sense of our world. But sometimes, that practice can be limiting. It can mash square pegs into round holes just to keep things neat and tidy. The world is not neat and tidy, no matter how much we try to control it and make it so.
Imagine a box of crayons with an infinite number of waxy sticks with which to color the world. I recall the joys of a brand new box at the beginning of a school year, yet how quickly did the points dull, the wrappers peel and the crayons break in two? What colors your world? Do you moan about the lack of color, the few possibilities, the limitations? Can you expand your world by seeking new hues to color your world lens? Try this simple experiment, which I believe is credited to Leonardo Da Vinci: rub you palms together to warm them. Then cup them gently over your closed eyes for 20 or 30 seconds. When you remove your hands and open your eyes you may just be amazed at the vibrant, brilliant colors in your world.
Just like in Kindergarten, we choose the colors with which we create our art. Our lives can be expanded by the simple act of reaching for those not often used, beyond the red, blue and yellow. May you seek so many colors in your own world you can only wonder at its beauty.