"Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions."- Pablo Picasso

It's incredibly interesting to think and learn that colors have so much meaning. Not just to us mentally, but emotionally and physically even.

Color has fascinated people for millennia. Theorizing on color and psychological functioning has been present since Goethe (1810) penned his Theory of Colors, in which he linked color categories (e.g., the “plus” colors of yellow, red–yellow, yellow–red) to emotional responding (e.g., warmth, excitement).

Using colors in writing can give the reader certain emotions (intentionally or unintentionally). It can provoke certain ideas, misdirect, or direct them on the right path. Using it in our everyday life, such as what color to paint a certain room, can sometimes play with our psychology as well.

A yellow room to one person might be cheerful, and playful and create happiness while for others it can cause mania, depression, and anxiety. I'm personally one of the latter. Yellow in large doses drives me insane, but green or blue gives me peace and calm.

Color also has the ability to cause physical reactions. That's both terrifying and super cool!

Take green for example. It has been shown to:

- Expand capillaries

- Regulate blood circulation

- Reduce pressure

- Calm the nervous system

- Relax muscles

- Establish a personal balance

- Sometimes used as a sedative (think sitting out in nature or forest-bathing)

- Stimulate the pituitary gland

- Increase blood histamine levels and decrease allergy symptoms

- Dilate blood vessels, aiding in smoother muscle contractions

There are a multitude of works out there that really take into consideration color and its psychological/physiological effects. below are some of my favorites that really bring home this idea that color can help represent an idea, a symbol, or create a general feeling for the reader as well as the characters! Below are some of my favorites. The Yellow Wallpaper: A Short Story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Snow White by the Brothers Grimm The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison Lord of the Flies by William Golding Here are some articles touching on this neat research too: Color and psychological functioning: a review of theoretical and empirical work Color Psychology: The Psychology of Colors and Their Meanings Color Psychology: How Do Colors Affect Mood & Emotions?

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