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As I walk through the park one summer day with the daughter of one of my very best friends, she asks a peculiar and thought provoking question.

"What is color?" she asks. Janice has been blind since birth, and therefore has no image of color whatsoever in her mind.

"Color is not what you may think, Janice. Many people think that color is an amenity only enjoyed by those with seeing eyes, but those people are terribly wrong. At it's best, color is a thing best enjoyed with closed eyes."

"Color is not merely a portrayal of light, as many make it out to be. Color is something to be experienced by all the senses. Colors can be heard, felt, smelled and even tasted."

"Here is a rose, Janice. How does it feel? You can feel the velvety softness of it's luxurious petals, yet at the same time it's thorns prick you. The petals, the thorns and the warmth of your finger as it is pricked are all the color red."

"Now Janice, open up your arms to the sun above your head. Can you feel it hugging you? The sun spreads across your body like a blanket, giving you security and motivation. This is the color orange."

"There is a dog walking past. Pet him, Janice. He is lively, jumping around with energy. He embodies the color yellow. Think of the way the first sip of lemonade tastes in the summer, sweet and full of movement of your tongue. This is yellow, as well."

Janice is smiling, taking in the color around her. "I smell the fresh cut grass," she says. "What color is that?"

"That is the smell of the color green. Green is a cooler feeling that red, orange and yellow. Green is fresh, new. Green is the smell of the grass, the trees and the summer air. Green is a ladybug crawling up your calf, or the crunch of a cool vegetable."

"You like to swim, don't you Janice? Well, blue feels like the water. Blue is calming and encircling. Blue is like your mother, hugging you and lulling you to sleep. Blue is the comfort food of the colors, like mashed potatoes. Blue is ultimate peace."

"Next is purple. Smell these lilacs. This is the smell of purple. Purple is calming as well, but at a different level. Purple is the color of your spirit, and the color for everything you believe in. When you get a feeling or an intuition about something, that is purple. Purple is soul, like the sound of a trumpet."

"You know how everything has an opposite? Well, black and white are opposites. Things unknown, unfelt and empty are black. Black is like a deep hole into which everything else disappears. White is the opposite. White is knowing and fresh. White is new and crisp, like a sheet of paper."

"Last, but not least is brown. Brown is a diverse color. Brown can be heavenly and smooth, like chocolate melting in your mouth. Brown can also be somewhat sticky and unpleasant, similar to sticking your foot in a puddle of mud. "

I asked Janice what she thought about what I had just told her. She didn't respond. I turned to face the eleven year old and found her rubbing a leaf between her palms. "I think my favorite color is green," she told me with a knowing grin.

"Me too."

Learn more about this author, Brittany Jackson.
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