Life itself is painted in many hues, such as red, yellow, blue, among many others...

Have you ever stopped for a moment to appreciate how everything you see is so full of colour, life full of so many nuances that the fact of existing day by day is just like a beautiful piece of art. There are multiple emotions found in just the fact of seeing that we live in a universe full of colour.

And it's curious. We are so used to seeing them around us that we don't even think about the psychological effects it can create in us, for example, it is not the same to see the beautiful light blue colour in the bright sky during the day than to see the sky with yellow and orange tones at sunset, because internally it creates an emotional effect, in some people stronger than in others, however, it continues to cause something that even without realizing it, it can relax our body and mind, since it has a certain cognitive nature.

Within the human brain, there are about 30 visual areas located in the occipital, parietal, temporal, and frontal lobes of the cerebral cortex. Each area extracts different types of information from the visual input signal; from the most elementary features such as spatial frequency, orientation and contrast (areas of the occipital lobe), to the most complex features such as movement, colour or shape of objects (characteristic of the parietal temporal and frontal regions of the cerebral cortex). However, the Occipital lobe is primarily responsible for vision management, since vision is processed and interpreted here, and thus allows the formation of visual memories.

The act of observing a colour is something more than a physiological process. It also has an emotional potential, very high or very low, depending on who you ask, since each colour means something in particular to each person. For example, indeed, colours are also used as symbols of social movements, and it's so interesting because the culture of the place where we live can also be influenced by this, and that's why is it so important to pay attention to the colours we select in our lives, because they can make us feel comfortable or uncomfortable, happy or sad, they can even make us feel hungry.

It's something extraordinary to know how all the cognitive processes of our being are so connected to something that seems so easy and common when in reality it's much more complex than we can even imagine. In other words, the reason that seeing the sunrise is something so impressive to the naked eye involves a mental, perceptual and emotional process, so when we see different shades of colours above us, the brain undoubtedly acts like an artist.

Part of today's reality is living in a world where we are already used to everything that is around us, which is an interesting subject to reflect on by the way, because thinking about why human beings get used to everything where they live, and then otherwise, it loses some of its spark, its emotion, or its colour, in what made it ignite in the first place; but I will talk about that another time, the purpose of mentioning this topic is that you have to take time to appreciate where we are and what is around us. 

Or can you imagine a life with no colour?...

...I mean I kind of like the idea, but not that much, in any case, it would be strange...

It would be like leaving the music on, and not paying attention to it, and I am not saying that we must observe life like this every day, with too much attention and passion, that could be exhausting. I do understand that life cannot always be like this, however, the appreciation of everything where we live can give us a healthier and more creative quality of life, because it gives us important things, as well as the self-knowledge that comes to you thanks to therapy, only that in these cases, we talk about knowing your environment and how you act according to it. Which in my opinion is something very important, because in this way, we appreciate how valuable life can be, you just have to close your eyes for a moment, count to ten and then open them again, and then you will notice for sure an important part of that difference in your environment.

I want to mention an example of the impact of colours in your mind, I mean the different species of flowers that exist, from Roses, Sunflowers, Lilies, Forget-me-nots or Daisies, among many others, which leave a particular effect on us, is, in fact, a way of demonstrating how the sensitivity of our nervous system is highly sensitive, although we do not realize it.

Now, slightly changing the subject...

I need to mention how marketing, emotions & cultures, are ways in which humans have used colours to symbolize and sometimes attract people.

To clarify a bit more, I want to talk with examples of some brands, for example, "Facebook", they chose those colours in their logo and in their platform, by the way, with those whites and those shades of blue, you can be easily relaxed. Your eyes start to feel comfortable, so there is no reason, visually speaking, to not continue watching videos on your phone, or for example, the McDonald's brand logo, using red, a colour that produces strong emotions, and yellow, a colour that can produce hunger.

To mention a few brands...

In fact, colour has a special effect, therefore, not all of them have the same effects, although, in a certain way, we are indeed part of some of those psychological effects.

Throughout history, colours have been used in many ways, from the symbol of a logo of any brand to a social and cultural representation of everything we go to, and in everything we do.

For example, we all hear that classic stereotype that the colour blue is for boys and pink is for girls, this is an idea that was created many years ago, when actually there was a time in history when children were dressed in white cotton, regardless the gender of the child, nevertheless, there was a period in time when the situation was quite the opposite because the boys wore pink and the girls wore blue.

A long time ago, (between the XV and XVI centuries), Western European culture began to develop a rich artistic and cultural production. And it was during this time that the colour blue was identified with purity, a soft and delicate colour that could be more easily related to the feminine role. Meanwhile, pink, derived from red, represented strength and masculine determination. And so, pink was a colour associated with masculinity, considered to be a watery red colour, related to blood. Hence, its use was "advised" in boys and not in girls in the USA.

In short, the social impact that we can give a colour is very strong, like the colour red, which is used when one is wrong, and green, which is used when one is right. And so, it is shown that colours have an effect on our life that is structured by the culture where we grew up, as well as the knowledge we have of life and what we believe in it.

And then, why do we have a favourite colour?...

The answer is actually subjective since it is something that involves our emotions and consequently, our neural connections.

However, our personal histories and subjective experiences condition us when it comes to feeling a preference for one colour or another. Here the great weight of the media and advertising stands out. But sometimes, it is enough to have an experience of great emotional intensity for our mind to feel a preference for a colour. Therefore it involves a profound and personal reason.

So basically, colours have completely changed our lives, emotionally speaking of course, so there is no doubt how much all this makes sense when I see the sky every day and it makes me feel like I'm floating, with no a doubt it's something so profound and emotional that it feels like poetry inside you.

As it can be distinguished, we live surrounded by a world full of colours, without which life itself would not make sense.

   *Holi Festival*

Thank you so much, for getting this far again, and remember, if you have any additional comments...

I gladly listen 😊