Inspirational Color Quote of the Week: Colors Aquamarine, Indigo and All Shades of Blue We all can use a little inspiration. It’s easy to concentrate on the tasks that need to be done immediately and the exigencies of our daily routines. The inspirational color quotes found in this section of the website ask you, in any way that feels right for you, to step out of the box, take a few minutes of reflection and refocus on the bigger picture. Thereafter, you might choose to take some particular action to move you in a new direction, you might want to take advantage of a quiet moment or you might choose to simply enjoy. In that spirit, here’s the inspirational color quote for this week. When to Stop and when To Go? "She had never known that ice could take on so many shades of blue: sharp lines of indigo like the deepest sea, aquamarine shadows, even the glint of blue-green where the sun struck just so." --Malinda Lo (author, Huntress) Who would have thought? What a lot of detail and imagery packed into a couple of short sentences. It’s about Lines, shadows, glints. Not to mention a variety of shades of blue, ranging from the dark introspection we associate with indigo to the aquamarine representing the expansiveness and freedom of the sea. All in the service of describing something we here in the northeast United States so often want to gloss over or just go away! Ice! Turns out though that in the fantasy world author Melinda Lo has created cold and ice are the norm; the sun hasn’t shown through in years (making the glimpse of the sun alluded to here an important signal). The vivid description of the ice though is part of a recurring vision that comes to one of the main characters; it becomes a prelude to unusual twists and turns and new directions in the story. But the scene quickly shifts; the character suddenly discovers herself being pulled with a power beyond her control to follow a strange looking creature into the depths of an unknown situation. You’ll have to read the book to know what happens! But that sudden transition in the scene-- from focusing on the detail inherent in such keen observation to being propelled towards in this case fairly dramatic action-- raises some interesting questions about more routine choices. When do you take time to slow down to observe with heightened awareness the details of the scene around you? Such observation adds to your learning; helps you see from a different perspective; and simply provides a chance to get quieter within yourself. As the character Taisin profoundly notes, she never knew that there were so many shades of the color blue in the world of ice. On the other hand, when have you done enough slowing down and you realize that it’s time for decision and action? Time to stop procrastinating. Time to take a stand, and time to provide more focus and direction. Let’s face it; we don’t generally have the magical powers possessed by the character in Huntress. In the moment, she didn’t have much choice; she found herself being pulled along even by powers beyond her control. That sometimes may describe the state of affairs for the rest of us, but more often it is those conscious choices and decisions that are going to move us forward. An important juxtaposition? When to step back, slow down and even just enjoy and when to get in the mode calling forth decision and action. Let’s not take either one of these for granted; Both are important, and we need to more consciously develop a language that lets us value each. Sometimes we need to make a choice. But sometimes it doesn’t have to even be that kind of juxtaposition; the character in Huntress in a matter of seconds switched from one way of viewing the world to the other. You can have your cake and eat it too? As the images of ice remind us and in the end, there’s beauty and wonder in any option we pick. How do these ideas resonate with you, and what are one or two actions you might want to take in the next day or so on that basis?
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Inspirational Color Quote of the Week: Color Blue
We all can use a little inspiration. It’s easy to concentrate on the tasks that need to be done immediately and the exigencies of our daily routines. The inspirational color quotes found in this section of the website ask you, in any way that feels right for you, to step out of the box, take a few minutes of reflection and refocus on the bigger picture. Thereafter, you might choose to take some particular action to move you in a new direction, you might want to take advantage of a quiet moment or you might choose to simply enjoy. In that spirit, here’s the inspirational color quote for this week. A Blue Print for Dreaming “Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blue prints of your ultimate accomplishments.” -- Napoleon Hill (self-help guru, 1930s) What a powerful concept! And a concept not taught enough in our culture. We’re more often encouraged to keep our noses to the grindstone: we’re taught to work hard, plan our tasks out in notable detail and keep our heads down as we stick to the daily jobs. As well, let’s not underestimate the idea that that kind of discipline involves a really important set of skills, and those skills provide solid ways to do the work of turning dreams and abstract visions into the concrete reality we all want. But what about those visions, those dreams and the bigger picture? What is it that we’re working so hard to accomplish with all the discipline and with all the activities that make up our daily routines? Our culture is great at teaching us the skills we need to develop that discipline. We’re less used to cultivating the kinds of bigger dreams and visions that Napoleon Hill is asking us to not only develop but to also cherish? For him—and I think he’s right—“they are the children of your soul, the blue prints of your ultimate accomplishments.” Pretty vivid language that only serves to reinforce the value of the message. But how do we come up with these dreams and visions in the first place? At least for me, I was taught a lot more about the work habits necessary for concrete achievement. So what to do to dream bigger? It’s not always so easy—at least speaking for myself-- to get clear on what you really want. Spend more time cultivating your intuition? Develop practices of meditation? Hang out more in nature? Take a few minutes every day to check in with yourself? One size of course doesn’t fit all, and it’s up to each of us to figure out the individual strategies that work best. At the same time and even as we don’t always know quite how to do it, cherishing those dreams and those visions lets us get in touch with our reasons for working so hard at the detail, teaches us to play a bigger game and in the end lets our imagination travel to increasingly fertile places. Sure We need the blueprint to help us make things concrete, but we also need the blueness of the ocean and the sky and just about anything else that expands the size of our dreams. How do these ideas resonate with you, and what are one or two actions you might want to take in the next day or so on that basis? |
AuthorI am a Life Coach, a Color Wisdom Card Practitioner, and yes, even a Professor (political science, State University of New York at Albany). I use the Color Wisdom Cards to support clients in exploring priorities and taking concrete actions to stay on track with the goals they set. Because in my own life I have overcome a lot of self-doubt, I want to work with people towards more confidence and self-empowerment. You can do it! What is it you want to do? Categories
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