Choose Your Depression Getaway Colour

Last time I was telling you about my nice yellow sunny apartment and how it cheers me up. The yellow I am referring to is a soft butter yellow. This time I would like to tell you about a time when yellow wasn't the smartest choice I ever made.

It was the early 70's. I was a new teacher and thought I knew something, I guess I was a little cocky. One June, the teachers were told that the school was getting some fresh paint and although most of it would be white paint, each teacher could pick a colour for one wall in his or her classroom. I picked a really bright yellow!


I thought it was a fun amazing colour. The older teacher Winnefred (an old lady to me) chose a soft dusty rose for her wall. I thought 'what an old lady colour that is. Why that is not suited at all to young children. She is just picking the colour because she likes it.' Remember, I thought I knew something. Well my colour was no less selfish. I loved yellow, still do.

But guess what? That yellow was way too stimulating for those kids. It had a bad effect on them. Eventually I had to move their desks so they weren't facing the yellow all day. Winnefred's classroom remained calm as always, like Winnefred herself.

Have you ever noticed that some grocery stores use a lot of yellow? They want you to get excited and stimulated and spend more than you were planning to.

So why do prisons and drunk tanks paint their walls pink? To keep prisoners docile and obedient. Research has even shown that people are weaker while looking at a pink hue. Following the perceivable success of U.S. prisons using pink rooms to calm inmates, other institutions have shopped around the idea of using pink walls in office break rooms, inside of ambulances, panic rooms, airport security, mental health facilities, and natural disaster relief posts.  

My friend Winnefred was way ahead of me in choosing a soft pink for her colour.

There is so much more you could learn about the psychology of colour if you're interested.

But today I want to ask you about your favourite colour, or colours? And now this question: do you have some of that colour in your life? Is it in your house. Do you have clothes that colour?

I love colour! As an artist and a retired art teacher I have spent a lot of time using colour and explaining it to others.

But the colours you like or don't like are personal. You need to make no explanation about it. Just like you may not be able to explain why you like apples over oranges, you just like what you like.

Maybe you would like to know a bit more about 'colour for health'.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? How are you feeling today? Are you surrrounded by colours you like? Are you living in colours that you like but that are also soothing?

Don't give up! There is hope for depression.