The Colours of Christmas
The colours of Christmas seem more important this year. It’s looking increasing unlikely that we will travel to see our families and friends or even to escape winter for a while.
So how do we make the best of it?
Colours can help ground us and give us that feeling of connection. Keeping those connections alive is so important now that Covid forces apart us.
December brings us shortening days and lots of darkness. Each day the rises later and sets sooner. The days become shorter and shorter. The tradition of bringing colour into your home in the darkest of winter dates back thousands of years. To me, it symbolizes hope. Hope that things will be green once again, that food will bountiful, that life will blossom, and that we will see our families again. Soon the days will be a little longer and grow longer each day, the earth will warm once again, and we will have a vaccine.
There are so many ways to bring life and colour into our homes this winter.
Gingerbread in all its forms of houses and people is a fun, a delicious way to decorate. Why not have a gingerbread house competition with your family and friends?
I’ll be starting my ginger bread house this weekend. I’m weak though, so I expect I’ll end up eating most of the candies before they get on the house.
Winter wreaths are another way to add colour to our homes. Evergreen branches, red berries and colourful ribbons can add a pinch of zest to our lives.
And of course we have Christmas trees, colourful lights, and carefully hung stockings.
And technology makes sharing our celebrations so much easier. There are Zoom, Facebook, and telephones. Sure, it pales when compared to being with our loved ones, but sometimes the palest light can feel like a beacon of hope. I cherish the window visits I have with my mother.
To quote Dr. Bonnie, “This is not forever, but it is for now.”
This week, Sam Parsons of Cloverdale Paint brings us the first six of the12 colours of Christmas.
Colour matters. Humans are hard wired to respond emotionally to them. Take a moment to think of some colours that can make you feel hope and joy, and let us bring them into our home and neighbourhoods.
