What’s your favorite color?

Just between us, 

What’s your favorite color? Why is that your favorite color? I was recently asked these questions and my knee jerk reaction was to say blue, but that didn’t feel right to me. That was my favorite color as a child, but what was my favorite color as an adult? This feels like a trivial question and it is. Even so, I couldn't stop thinking about the answer. The world is full of so many different colors. So many options to choose from. Of course there are the primary colors; blue, red, and yellow. Then the secondary colors; green, orange, and purple. Don’t even get me started on different shades and hues. When you think about it though, each one of these colors are unique. They are incomparable to one another. Of course they can come from the same color families or can even be just one shade different, but every single color is special. You can’t compare an orange to a green because they are totally different. Each color has special qualities that some people love and some people hate. In that sense, people are just like colors.

Comparing yourself to others is so easy for us to do. For me it has become second nature. Whether I’m comparing how I look, how I dress, my education level, how I carry myself, and so many other things. The list is endless, but if you take a step back and actually think about it, how is it actually possible to compare two completely different individuals? You grew up in your childhood home, were raised by your parents, had your own hard ships, learned your own lessons, experienced your victories, and made decisions that were best for you. All these things made you who you are. They made you this special, individual, unique, beautiful person. Whose job, if not yours, is it to take care of this person? You deserve kindness. You deserve love. You deserve patience. You deserve understanding. Most importantly though, you deserve to go through life without someone constantly dragging you down. How are you supposed to achieve your dreams if you always have this negativity hanging over your head? How boring would it be if every single person was exactly the same? How boring would it be if there was only one color in the world?

I’ve decided that I am maroon. Specifically, I am Sherwin Williams shade 6307. I am shade 6307 because it is deep and complex like my emotions that I don’t always know how to sort out. It is moody, just like me daily. It’s bold, much like my opinions and choices. It is a shade that isn’t made for everyone to love, just like people aren’t made for everyone to love. Even though this is my favorite color, some may hate it. You could be the prettiest pink someone has ever seen and yet there will always be someone that will always hate the color pink. If that is the case, what is the point of trying to be like someone else? Why are we putting ourselves through this when some will never like you no matter what you do? What if while we are trying to put ourselves into a different box, we miss meeting someone who would love us for who we are?

So again I’ll ask. What’s your favorite color?

-M