by Karen Gilbert

Created on: March 08, 2009   Last Updated: March 16, 2009

Spring's Calming Colors

Across our nation home prices have fallen, jobs have disappeared, food prices have risen, and banks, though infused with government funds, have tightened their lending. We as a nation are facing the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, and individually, we are facing our biggest emotional challenges. According to a poll taken by the Psychological Association, three-quarters of Americans say they are stressed. When a person is under stress, their immune, neurological, and hormone systems are out of sync. Our bodies become as bankrupt as our investment portfolios.

Spring is Nature's time for rebirth and in these dismal financial times, we are looking to be reborn as well. Psychologists insist that the first change in our lives is at the surface level. Spring is a time of color and surrounding ourselves with appropriate colors for our times will help us to renew our lives. Keeping that in mind, two colors should be included in our spring palette: blue and purple.

Many of us have been tossing and turning trying to sleep while worried about our jobs, our investments, and our future. Blue can help you sleep. Blue has always represented serenity, inspiration, and spirituality. Viewing blue, be it the sky, the ocean, a room or a piece of clothing, soothes the mind and has an overall calming effect on the body. Doctors refer to this phenomenon as the mind/body connection.

Artists use blue to show perspective, to look beyond. Now more than ever we need to look beyond our present day problems and look to an improved future. Research has shown that blue light makes us happy. Now more than ever, we need to create tranquil and happy environments.

Another color that can enhance our lives this Spring are shades of purple. Purple has been associated with healing us emotionally. Purple is said to bring us personal and spiritual awareness. As we are being forced to assess our finances, we have the opportunity to assess our lives. What is really important? Purple inspires good judgment and has been used for centuries for peace and meditation. The Chakra (the Eastern term for our energy sources) that houses purple links us to the universe and rebalances our lives.

Spring is our chance to start anew. It's the time when the dark grays of winter are replaced with brighter colors. Spring colors let our minds process that better days are coming. As Emily Dickinson wrote in her poem, "A Light Exists in Spring,"

A light exists in Spring

Not present on the year

At any other period

When March is scarcely here.

Learn more about this author, Karen Gilbert.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.