This morning I went to the gym–as I sometimes do when the mood strikes. Which really should be more often, because if the mood doesn’t strike, the pounds usually do. Anyway, I love my gym. It’s immaculate, the greeters who scan my card are nice, and my gym has an awesome bathroom. (Really, it rivals the one at Bucc-ee’s.) My only complaint…everything is gray.  The machines are gray, the floor is gray, the walls are gray. Yes, a lot of gray.

So today as I treaded along looking around at my very gray gym, one thing repeatedly caught my eye. COLOR.  My gym’s red logo, someone wearing a bright blue top, hot pink shoes. Bursts of color, amidst the gray.

Then I remembered a statement Janna made in Quintessential Style:

“Our eyes seek light and color.” It’s totally true.

Janna has also remarked, “Someone can have a flawless complexion and be wearing no color at her face.  But a person sitting next to her (who may not have a flawless complexion), who is wearing color, will be noticed first.” (Look at the photos below. Which Barbie do you notice first?)

All of us have probably realized the older we get, the more our natural coloring fades. Our complexions, our lips, our hair–all fading. Janna refers to it as our “Fall-Off Point” (page 100). Gray, black, and other neutrals that might have been fine to wear years ago, may now totally drain us. Adding color to our wardrobe, makeup, and hair can really “liven” us up.

This concept can be extended to decorating, accessorizing, landscaping, even cooking.  Just put a dash of color where you want your eye to land. Works every time!

Well, maybe you don’t actually want to be noticed at the gym. Perhaps that’s your intention. But that’s not the point. The point is that color, besides making us look more radiant, can keep us from looking, well, invisible.

“Color is the first thing seen, and the last thing remembered.”  …Janna Beatty