Adding Color to Life

Recently I have spent some time contemplating the meaning of life. I can only imagine that there must be a myriad of different opinions on this topic. So my insignificant insights might only be the voice of someone drowning in the middle of a vast ocean. But I could not find a good reason not to share it anyway…

If you ask me, life has no meaning in itself. We give meaning to life as we live it. Therefore, it is influenced by our own experiences, thoughts and actions, as well as some external factors. And therefore, it goes without saying, that the meaning that my life has will be as unique as my fingerprint.

When we are loving, we add love to the meaning of our lives, and when we are hating, we add hate. When we laugh often, we add joy, and when we cry, we add sadness. When we believe, we add faith, when we are afraid of everything, we add fear, when we love money, we add greed, etc.

In essence the meaning of life can then be positive or negative, it can be light or darkness, uplifting or downgrading. We choose that for ourselves. Even if external factors play a role, it is still our choice what meaning we add to our existence. 

As an artist, instead of light and darkness, I prefer to think of it as the difference between color and black. When we add positive meaning to life, we are adding color. And when we add pessimism or cynicism to life,  we are creating a state of being that is absent of color, which is exactly what black is. Black is not only the absence of color, it absorbs color and turns light energy into heat.

Mary Balogh is quoted to have said; "Black is the absence of all color. White is the presence of all colors."

If my only two options in adding meaning to my life is to add color or deprive it of color by making everything black, I most definitely choose color. Finding ways to add color to life not only makes my own life more pleasant, it adds joy to the people I meet. 

In the end it has a lot to do with what we focus on. If we focus on what is colorful and beautiful, that is what we will add to life. If we focus on all the blackness that surrounds us, that is all we will have to add. Not only will we add black, we will absorb all color from our world. 

Yes, I most definitely prefer to add color.