red and yellow, black and white

After years of babysitting I have so many funny and sweet "kid stories", but one of my favorites came from a little girl who's daddy I used to work with...he was with a different company but we traveled together a lot for one particular client, so we became fast friends. We were doing a week long event & convention in Kansas City, KS two summers ago. Graham made great points to talk to his little girl Grace (4 years old) as much as possible and would even do web cam convos since we were on the road so much.

This one particular conversation and story I witnessed went like this:
G: hey grace, how was school today?
g: hi daddy! I miss you, where are you?
G: well I'm in Kansas, Gracie.
g: like the Kansas where Dorothy, Toto and The Scarecrow live?
G: why yes, that's exactly where I am...in that Kansas.
g: is everything black and white there?
G: *speechless, a smile that didn't stop & tear filled eyes missing his baby girl*

Seeing the world in black and white. Wow. To Grace that was as intriguing as the wonder of Dorothy, her friends and their adventures in Oz and the fairytale ending of the timeless film.

I've thought about this a lot lately. I've really gotten into this new photoshop program and have been playing around with a lot of my photos. While there are numerous really cool color design options, I always end up doing all the neat crops and textures but nearly every picture ends up black and white. I've always enjoyed black & white pictures and there are more on display in my house than color, but with endless colorful options available I began to wonder why I strip these pictures of every colorful pigment they hold? I soon realized that most all things in my life I enjoy the most are black and white, if you will:

pictures. letters & words on pages in books. newspapers and magazines. my dearest childhood friends are both colors. salt and pepper are food groups to me. i have three people that raised me; two were white, one was black. cookies & cream ice cream is my favorite. a favorite pair of shoes are my steve maddens, black with white polka dots and a red heel. i prefer black ink over blue. i watch andy griffith most every night before bed...but only the shows that are in black and white.

Ok, so these examples might be a stretch, but I think my personality and character respond best to all things stripped down, vulnerable to color, and raw. I think my mind works best when I can create opinions, develop emotions and ultimately find truth with a simple palette. I then hope to allow this truth to create it's own color.

I will never take for granted my eyesight and that I see "in color", but I'm especially grateful I am able to enjoy all things black and white, in its truest form. Sure, color brings a new life, greater depth and beauty to all things...but if you think about it, much of the history in our lives whether it be about our families, our country, or our world can only be explained and/or viewed in black and white. The only images some of us have ever seen of our grandparents are in black and white. These important matters, pictures and words didn't have a "color" option but I believe and understand that they still changed the world.

I can't help but wonder what a different world we would live in if all things black and white were accepted in truth so that their true colors could shine.

...do you prefer your world in black & white or color?


*these are pictures of my "little sister" Shaicoriya painting at my house