We live by our eyes; we use them to communicate, navigate and assess our environment. Without sight we are vulnerable. The eyes perceive various waves of light and send signals to the brain, which interprets these as colors, which we name. The language of color is so complex and specialized that a glossary is required to understand it.

There are many paths to exploring color, such as: the science of color; color and culture; color and fashion; color and art. It’s a broad topic, and one that I will probably return to.

This week, if you’re so inspired, pick one of these areas and play with it. I have provided questions as suggestions to help you along your discovery. Use whatever you want in the process: search the internet, go to a library, do an activity related to the topic, talk to people, make something.

I will also provide a short exercise at the bottom of this post to pique your interest and help you limber up.

The science of color:

1. What is color; how was it discovered?
2. How can color be used in, for instance, business and medicine (or the military, if you’re curious)?
3. What are primary colors of pigment, and how do they differ from RGB and CMYK pigments; what are hue, saturation, and brightness, and which is more important?
4. Why can we see color and some animals can’t; what animals can see as many colors as we can?
5. The color of the universe was recently identified as a type of beige. Notice color as it relates to the physical world and to animals. For instance, why are there so few birds with blue feathers?

Color and culture:

1. Pick some or all of the following colors and search for what they mean in different cultures and countries: red, yellow, blue, orange, green, purple, gray, brown, white, black, saffron, pastels, the rainbow.
2. If you were to choose colors to symbolize your identity, what would they be, and why?
3. Is the symbolism of colors taken from the West, the East, or both? Are there colors that share universal meaning?
4. Choose a culture (or more than one) and examine the colors most often associated with it. How did those hues come to prominence? For example, Navajo creations use the color turquoise; why? Why do Buddhist monks wear saffron robes? How did bright colors come to prominence in Central and South American art?
5. Create your own culture; name it, and choose colors for it.

Color and psychology:

1. Explore the theories describing the impact of color on mental state and personality. What conclusions are drawn, and what is your response to the concept?
2. List the many idioms that exist in our language using color as a symbol of feeling (e.g., “feeling blue”).
3. How do children respond to color; what impact does it have on them?
4. What is color blindness, and how does it affect a person’s functioning?
5. Classify your emotions by color; what is it about each color that signifies the emotion?

Color and fashion:

1. Learn about the “color seasons.” Do you believe that people should or should not wear certain colors?
2. What do you think is communicated when a person wears (or paints her house, or buys a car painted) red, yellow, blue, orange, green, purple, tan, silver, gold, black, white, cream, brown?
3. Are you partial to the color gold or silver (platinum)? What about gems? What comes to mind when you consider your preferences?
4. How have your color preferences changed (or not) throughout your life? Did you get to choose what color clothing to wear as a child? What colors did you wear? Did this change as you grew up in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s?
5. Go browsing (at the mall or wherever) and contemplate clothes. Try on colors you normally wouldn’t. Look at home fashions and dream about your ideal color scheme. Plan a flower garden and look at catalogs.

Color and art:

1. Pick a type (or more than one) of art: painting, sculpting, pottery, drawing, photography, digital creations (or any other) and explore how color is used.
2. Pick a style of art (renaissance, modern, cubist, baroque, etc.) and learn how color was used.
3. Learn how various media (oil, pastel, acrylic, watercolor) weather time’s passage, and the differences among them.
4. Make some art; play with colors. Get some Crayolas and a coloring book (for kids or adults, they’re out there), put aside judgment, and let yourself be a kid again. As you do this, notice the effect it has on your thoughts, feelings, and body. What memories emerge?
5. Go into a craft store and browse. Notice what colors attract you, and what you would be inclined to use if you were to make some art.

The “All Play” Exercise

Choose a color that appeals to you. It doesn’t have to be your all-time favorite, or a color you especially like to wear–though it may be. Have the color in front of you while you do this exercise. Glance through a magazine, look around for a color that catches your eye, look at a box of crayons. Now role-play that color. That means you are going to pretend you ARE that color and speak for it, since it cannot speak for itself. It can’t tell us what it’s like to be royal purple, or buttercup, or black. Take a sheet of paper, and start by writing, “I am red”… or “I am yellow”… or “I am cerulean blue”–whatever color you’ve chosen. Do NOT say “I like blue because…” or “I think blue is…” YOU ARE the color. Now, in a few words or sentences, tell what qualities you have as that color–NOT as yourself. For instance, “I am dark blue. I’m quiet and deep like the ocean.” There are no right answers.

–excerpted from Wishcraft: How to Get What You Really Want, by Barbara Sher

Write about your experiment in your blog (or paper journal) and leave a comment to let us know how to find it (you don’t have to leave a link if you don’t have an online journal).