Blue – a color or memories?
by jarek_ielts7 on November 25, 2007
in students
What’s blue? Is it a color? Yes, it is a color. So what is a color? A color is a kind of a physical process in which light beams of defined length (each color has its own light beam length) reflect from the surface of an subject (in this case blue subject). And the human eye is able to see this rebounded length of light as blue. But the world we live in is not only the physical processes. Apart from physics there is chemistry. Chemistry is mainly about connecting and disconnecting substances and/or elements. All these reactions take place outside and inside of our body. They are tremendously vital for living organisms. The human body has a special place where unique connections and disconnections of various chemicals (called neurochemicals) may result in a feeling of joy, cheerfulness even ecstasy or sadness, dejection or fear. These chemical processes give to a human being pleasant or unpleasant feelings. And the blue color may trigger our brain with neurochemicals to bring these feeling. In a great number of people blue color provokes good feelings, mostly coded as happiness and cheerfulness of beautiful days in theirs life. These days are mainly the summer time, when blue fills the sky and water. The blue sky and water are main surroundings of our leisure time, during which people have fun, enjoying their hobbies such as swimming, diving, yachting, windsurfing, cycling or playing different ball games etc. Doing what we like to do gives us pleasure and this pleasure is coded in human brain with positive chemicals reactions. To make all this easier the human brain makes shortcuts connecting the blue color with positives neurochemicals – so blue is responsible for positive feelings.
Yes, it’s good to see the blue color knowing what secrets it carries.
Jarek, that’s a wonderful short account of brain chemistry behind seeing colours, an aspect I didn’t think of. It definitely broadens the picture, although a more sentimental or romantic approach is what most of us tend to take.
Blue. For me it’s memories, like this flashback.
It’s the summer of 1978 and I walk down King’s Road in Chelsea. The punk rebellion is at its height. Gaudy chained, studded and pierced figures parade along the street. Almost no jeans in sight. But I head for a shop to get some. At American Classics I buy something what at first sight can hardly be called jeans – a pair of dark grey, thick and stiff Levi’s 501, which will bleed in the wash for many months before it turns indigo. But I seem to know what I’m doing.
Thirty years on, I still have this pair, only slightly resembling its original shape. Tortured by everyday wear and tear, washing and sun, ragged and torn in a few vital places, its blue faded to the colour of November sky. My second skin. A silent witness to a few decades of my life, my ups and downs, joys, boredom and desires.
The neurochemicals in my brain get into a blue rush every now and then.
Wow, this post on blue was really food for thought to me. To be honest I never associated positive feelings with blue. Actually, I think I never really liked blue. I avoid blue in my clothes, I would never use blue as a color of paint for my bedroom, I even prefer black to blue ink for my pens. Blue is cold and lifeless. Blue is clean nad sterile. Blue is hospital interior. I hate hospitals.
On the other hand you have clear skies or the humming sea. Still this seems to be not enough, the color is too alien or even hostile. Perhaps it’s due to the fact (mentioned in the article), that, apart form the sea and the sky, it is so infrequent in nature?
I totally agree with Michał, I don’t think that blue is a cheerful colour, but I’m not saying that it’s not pretty. For me yellow and green are colours that provokes the best feelings because it’s obvious that those colours are conected with HOLIDAYS!!!So during the school year I buy a lot of yellow things to remind me about nice time that is getting closer and closer:) For example now I have yellow scarf and gloves, and there are also some green gadgets in my pencil-case.
nice post :) Blue is one of my favourite colours, so IMO this is cheerful colour ;) I also agree with Michał – blue is admittedly connected with clear sky and sea.
I don’t like blue, i don’t even wear jeans, and yeah, I have black ink in my pen too. That colour for me is like background of life – I see it but I don’t connect it with certain feeling. Blue is everywhere though for me it’s a veeeery dull colour.
Blue doesn’t suit me- this is probably the reason why I don’t really like this colour. I have only one blue sweater and I wear it once in a blue moon.
Also, I don’t connect blue with certain positive feelings. For me it’s rather something mundane and monotonous. Maybe that’s why blue is frequently chosen to be the colour uf school uniforms…