Why is there so much color in nature?  Have you stopped to think about it?  Color really does not exist except in our minds.  Color occurs when a light ray hits an object and bounces off, traveling at a particular frequency.  The frequency at which it travels determines the color you will see when this light ray enters the eye and is translated by the brain into a visual image.

Seems simple enough.  Most people do not realize, however, that the frequency with which this light enters your body determines how it will effect your body.  Yes, different frequencies of light (and therefore, different colors) effect the bodily differently.  We see color as something static....as something flat and lifeless on an object.  It is actually something very active, not static.  Color moves into your eyes on light waves every second that your eyes are open.  And different frequencies effect your body and mind differently.  So again, the question begs to be asked, why are there so many different colors in nature?  What difference does it make how we see things?

What effects do colors have?  Color energy can not only effect our mood and the way people see us, and it can effect our health as well.

Here are a three well known examples of what light can do.

When babies are born, their livers' ability to break down and eliminate bilirubin is often compromised.  Therefore, physicians now place babies under special lights.  As the light touches the skin, it breaks down the bilirubin so that the baby's body can dispose of it.  Actually, special lights are not really necessary, the sun's rays touching the baby's skin will do exactly the same job.  But nevertheless, this shows that the capacity of light to heal is known and accepted.

During the winter months, when the number of hours and amount of light available during the day is less than during the summer months, many people experience depression.  It has been determined that the lack of enough light can produce this effect.  It is called Seasonal Affective Disorder.  The cure for it is to have the person sit in front of a special set of lights that gives them the right amount of light in the full spectrum (because they don't know yet which frequency of light or color seems to be helpful, so they use the full spectrum).

Vitamin D is an essential vitamin for our health and well-being.  But Vitamin D utilization within the body is aided when sunlight hits the skin.  In other words, the more you are out in the sun, the more Vitamin D is converted to a form that the body can utilize.  Because our lifestyles involve working inside much more than ever before in history, many people are showing deficiencies in Vitamin D and need to get outside to enjoy nature more.

Although the above examples involve full spectrum light (light that includes all frequencies and is not broken down into colors), colored lights also have individual effects upon people.  The properties of foods are also influenced by their colors.  Some of the characteristics of individual colors are:

RED - The color of power, vitality, motivation, strength

ORANGE - The color of confidence, energy, joy, warmth

YELLOW - The color of strength, intelligence, joy, happiness, optimism

GREEN - The color of balance, harmony, caring, tenacious self-reliance, and healing

BLUE - The color of calmness, concentration, healing, relaxation, loyalty, and trust

INDIGO - The color of soothing, power, connection with knowledge, idealism, introversion.....and martyrdom?

VIOLET - The color of creativity, intuition, spirituality, self-awareness
 
Over the next few days we will examine each color and what it does in more detail.   Instead of asking the question, "Why are there so many colors in nature?" perhaps we should be sking, "Why were we created with the ability to perceive so many colors?" because in actual fact, nothing in nature has a color.  If no light falls on an object then it has no color.  Nothing has color until we see it and our brains interpret the frequencies.  There are so many individual differences between people, I am sure that not everyone sees each color the same.  But, since there's no way to determine exactly what a person is seeing (because of the same phenomenon of whether or not a fish knows it's wet), all we know is that whatever it is we are seeing, the colors relate to each other in such a way that it makes sense to everyone, even if we aren't all seeing the same thing. 

I feel certain that color is important.  It has to serve some purpose other than that it is aesthetically pleasing.  One thing scientists have realized is that the foods with the most ivid colors contain the most antioxidants.  So color definitely has something to do with health and wellness.  When considering the question of why do so many foods in nature have varied, vivid bright colors?  On the one hand, it has to do with the frequency shift these foods cause when we eat them.  But also, I'm convinced that animals in the wild have a certain predisposition toward certain foods and the color helps them identify the foods they need to eat.  We'll consider this in more detail over the next few days.