color

Last week while we were at the beach my sister-in-law Jennifer offered her daughter, my 13-month old niece Riley, a handful of variously colored Fruit Loops.

I watched as Jenn held out her open palm. Riley selected three purple loops, one at a time, and placed them in her mouth.

I laughed. "I guess we know what her favorite color is," I said.

Jenn reached into the box for a new handful. Again Riley selected only the purple loops.

Jenn reached for a third handful, this time hiding the one purple loop under the other colors in her hand. Riley sorted through the loops until she found the purple one. When Jenn continued to hold out her hand full of loops, devoid of any purple options, Riley grabbed indiscriminately for a handful of assorted colors and put them all in her mouth at one time.

While Riley has been exposed to every color of the rainbow, from books to clothes to cartoons to the landscape around her, her bedroom in Oklahoma and now in Texas has always been purple. I'm guessing what makes purple her "favorite" color is that it brings her a sense of peace and comfort, safety and love.

I've never really liked the question, "What is your favorite color?" because I find it so limiting to have to pick just one. My bedroom growing up was yellow and then pink. My first vehicle was white and so was my first house. My walls are now blue and gray. My curtains are green and orange. My towels are purple and my coffee is black. I simply like colors... all of them!

But there are times when I'm pulled toward one color or another. And by observing Riley's color preference I now see why. A color is not just a color. It comes with a history, a mood, a memory, an emotion, a desire, an answer, and sometimes even a flavor.

EMBRACE COLOR.

Do you have a favorite color? Or are you like me, always changing your mind, embracing them all, rolling with the tides from one favorite to another?


Remembering when my other sis-in-law Kari and I analyzed the colors in the movie Sex and the City. What started with a casual comment, "There sure is a lot of yellow in this movie," turned into two hours of insight and observation. Perhaps we have watched the movie a few too many times...