It was the hardest decision of her life. When Gail left her marriage of 28 years, she had never felt so lost and alone. The beginning point of her transition was letting go of a lifetime of memories and familiarity.

She found temporary housing in a one room efficiency apartment. The contained space felt safe and secure.

Her one room apartment, which would be her home for the next eight months, was all beige. A lover of colors, Gail found meager furnishings to fit the space. They were sensible, adequate and uncharacteristically devoid of color.

Thinking back on this painful period, Gail realized that the lack of color was reflective of her emotional state. It was part of her period of healing. she created a rather blank slate for herself to do this.

That beige space was Gail’s cocoon. When she was ready to emerge, she reclaimed her love of color as one of the ways she was able to find herself as a newly single woman. Gail was ready once again to paint her world in color.

How do you paint your world? Perhaps you are in need at this moment of your own safe, secure and beige space. Whatever transition you may be traveling through, time spent in that cocoon begins to prepare you for being able to emerge and fly.

Sometimes we have a tendency to paint our world in black and white, leaving no space for anything but seeing things as right or wrong, good or bad. Black and white can be a world of harsh and self-defeating judgements.

In a world of color, different shades, hues and nuances are present which can give us a much broader perspective of our situation. This provides us with the invitations for self exploration without the harsh and self-defeating judgements of  black and white.

How will you choose to paint your world? Will you choose to lovingly care for yourself? Maybe for the moment you may need the safety of beige.

Perhaps you may need to look towards a world view change from black and white to color.  Only you can decide how you will paint your world.

Sometimes working through life issues with a counselor can help. Please call me if you’d like some gentle guidance through the color changes in your life. I’ll get you ready to emerge and fly on your own!