Why Red?
My favorite
I first noticed my attraction to red when, back in 1969, I painted an accent wall in our first apartment bright red, much to the chagrin of my brown loving new husband. That was followed by new red velvet Thomasville furniture, green walls and dingle dangle lamps in our first townhouse. (There's just no accounting for my taste in the 70's as I believed we should surround ourselves with the joy of Christmas all year round.)
When I moved to the DC area everything went beige for a few years - my clothes, my furniture, linens, just everything. "What in the hell happened to you?" my friends and sisters asked. "Nice, but it's not you. Are you depressed?" No, I wasn't depressed, but I struggled to find my path as well as my independence. I call it my reinvention years. It was a foggy, if not dark time full of false starts, lost loves and general confusion as I, a female, pursued an entrepreneurial technology related career in a "1980's man's world." But, as I gained confidence, a woman business partner and a client or two, color came back into my life through rich saturated red, purple, yellow, and blue on my walls and red suits. As they say, "the rest is history."
Fast forward 40 years. This year, after a week of Christmas holiday in New York with family and then a week of New Years celebration in Puerto Rico with long time friends, we happily returned to our home sanctuary. It's only an apartment, but for some reason when I'm in it, I have a sense of completeness and contentment that I never had in my previous homes. It has something more richly appealing, relaxing and intimate than any of the other places I've lived in.
The apartment is not special - only 1240 square feet, with off white walls, blond laminate wood floors, a white open kitchen and two bedrooms with light gray carpet. It's true that an eclectic art collection bedecks the walls, each reminding me of a travel, a life event or an artist we came to know. But, they've been with us in our other homes as well.
As I stood in the living room after dropping my bags, I realized what the unique attraction is -- the many hues and textures of red -- sofas, painted furniture and rugs sprinkled with blacks, blues, burnt oranges and golden yellows. With little conscious thought during the many cycles of discarding accumulated stuff over the past several years, I kept the red. I find myself in a space that beckons me to sit, quiets my mind, and soothes my soul.
But why red? Why do I gravitate to this saturated, in your face color and not soothing shades of dusty blue (like in the bedroom), minimalist blacks and whites (like in the office) or rich exotic palm tree greens (none to be found)? To answer the question I did a bit of research (Bless the internet and Wikipedia!). Although red sometimes symbolizes heat (burning), destruction and evil, red's positive qualities are stronger and deeper. They include the ability to draw attention from others (dominance), sacrifice, courage, movement, victory, passion, happiness, joy, sexuality and celebration. The research said that red always makes a statement and so do the people who surround themselves with it. Red lovers embrace change, are willing to sacrifice tradition for success, and determinedly pursue their goals.
So, for those who know me, red is my natural color. I'm a take charge kind of gal (some might say controlling) who took the risk to give up corporate security to become a business owner (I was never interested in a womanly career like homemaking, teaching or nursing) and had the drive to bring technology and people together in new ways (friends still don't understand what I did or how I made money from it).My search for joy and happiness into my personal life was struggle of three three marriages and divorces. Research said that red lovers are at war with themselves (I did keep marrying men who went to war against me). What I needed was my complement, someone who likes calming blues and greens (in other words, the ying to my yang). I finally found that complement, the man I've spent the past 27 years with.
Now in my "golden" years, I find myself luxuriating in my favorite color. It's a breath taking experience. Plunge into living with your favorite color, but be very kind to those who love the complementary ones.