I’m reading a great new book: Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness by Ingrid Fetell Lee. Lee opens the book with studies and thoughts about what makes a moment joyous and settles in on something quite simple: color.

If you want to change a drab day, a drab building, or a drab party, add bright, warm colors and you add a pop of joy to the world. Think birthday party balloons. Chinese dragon parades. Maypole ribbons. Hot air balloon festivals. Fields of wildflowers. Can you picture any of these in black and white? No! Just thinking about these colors brings up a bubble of joy.

“Color is energy made visible.”

Lee believes that energy is all around us and that bright colors have high energy that’s contagious.

If you need a little pop of energy, you could try something as simple as…

• Opening the curtains.
• Putting in higher-wattage lights.
• Painting a highlight wall.
• Bringing flowering plants into the house.
• Buying a new red sweater, or how about some blue cowboy boots.
• Adding a string of lights to a dark corner.
• Taking a pad of bright pink post-it notes and temporarily covering a wall!

The days are darkening as we slide into delightful, quieter days. I love turning down the volume for winter… but I think a wall in my house may need to go sunset-red.

Color = energy. Energy = focus. Focus = good work. Let’s ponder 🙂

I’ll close with a photo from my friend Tracy Carroll who is the essence of energy and light. And I believe she’s captured the color of my new wall 🙂

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