Tuesday 17 June 2008

The Power of a Rainbow

Normally, when I'm out for a walk, saying hello to passersby doesn't get too much of a response. Most people pretend they didn't hear or give a grunt at best, with only the occasional fellow walker responding. I've often thought this a sad reflection of a society in which people live in fear of those they do not personally know.

This morning I was feeling the cold, didn't want to put the heating on, and so put on my beautiful rainbow striped jumper. I still had it on when I set out for my walk this afternoon. I stopped to talk to a passing dog and his owner said hello and discussed his sore paw. She then said, a bit shyly, that she liked my jumper.

A little further on, I met up with two young girls returning from school with their mother. As they approached, the girls both enthusiastically said hello. One then said "cool jumper!" and she watched me as I went past. A bit closer to home, two teenage lads were walking their dog and they both greeted me.

I was, quite frankly, surprised at the attention and the reactions of people. I don't think I changed anything in the way I approached or greeted people on my walk today, but somehow a rainbow-coloured sweater broke down barriers. Did the bright colours touch a little child within them that instinctively had them responding to a stranger? Did I seem less threatening to them, simply because of my attire?

If this is the case, maybe we all need to be knitting rainbow jumpers for our politicians and policy makers. Maybe, if they all wore them when considering actions such as war or refugee status or environmental issues, they would see each other and the leaders of other countries as fellow human beings and we would get some real progress happening. Maybe we could feed the world, house and clothe the poor and share the wealth. Maybe we could stop the damage to our fragile planet and return her to her former glory. Maybe all it will take is a rainbow sweater . . .

love and light
naturewitch

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

It could be all those things you suspect, but in reflecting I noticed you called it your "beautiful rainbow" jumper...could it be it transforms you more than your other clothes do and hence ppl react in a different manner?

Colours are amazing and certainly research shows that we all react to them in subtle ways....your question still has me pondering lol

naturewitch said...

call me pollyanna, but i'd like to think it was the power of the rainbow . . .

Anonymous said...

You've inspired me to do a textile piece or art piece on "the rainbow jumper". Must get cracking on it. No time to waste!

Anonymous said...

psssssst NW, came across this site and thought you may enjoy it:
http://witchenkitchen.com/

Cheryl said...

Hi Naturewitch......I have always believed that colour effects us and the person looking on.
I find my mood can change with the colour I wear and other peoples reaction to me.
Your last paragraph is wonderful and oh how I wish there were truths in those lines.....

flmom said...

Very interesting post. Definitely something to ponder............

Wendy said...

I absolutely love this post! And I totally agree! Bring on the rainbows everybody.

naturewitch said...

Hi Pam - welcome to my blog - will check out yours shortly.

Hey Molly - thanks for the link - will go and have a peek.

Thanks all xx

Minni Mum said...

Hi Naturewitch, I have it on good authority (The Crone) that you are the Queen of Water Chestnuts! I just harvested my first lot yesterday and was a bit disappointed in how many I got; do you have any advice you'd like to share on how you grow them?

Cheers, Julie

naturewitch said...

Hi Julie

Visited your blog and left a comment about growing water chestnuts xx

Aisling said...

stumbled on your blog - beautiful post...

keep up the great writing! :)