Can you imagine if our world was completely void of color?  A world where we never saw a garden filled with flowers of every hue, where we never read an adventure from a colorfully illustrated children’s book?  What if we had never been introduced to color television and had to settle for boring, black-and-white television every day of our lives?  What if there were no colored lights in December or dyed Easter eggs and colorful jelly beans in April?  

I knew that color was magical the first time I laid eyes on the movie, The Wizard of Oz.  Dorothy’s house had landed and she opened the door (with Toto carefully tucked under her arm) and stepped out of her dull, sepia world, straight into Technicolor Munchkinland!  Remember how excited we felt when we saw all those gorgeous pinks and greens, blues and oranges and yellows?   Those colors were practically jumping off the movie screen!  

How many times have we stopped what we were doing to admire a rainbow?  In many cultures and throughout history, the rainbow is an illuminating symbol of peace and promise.  For instance, the Bible tells us that God produced a rainbow as His promise to Noah that He would never again send a flood to destroy the world.  

According to Greek legend, Iris used rainbows as a bridge between heaven and earth.  In other mythology, the rainbow was a bridge to the homes of the Norse gods and humans.  And who hasn't heard that Irish leprechauns hide their legendary pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?

There’s no doubt about it—we are inspired by the rainbow, by its beauty, by its radiance.  Just looking at a rainbow can bring us out of a depression and make us smile.  They’re in the sky after a rainstorm.  They’re in water puddles.  They’re in natural and man-made crystals.  And they’re also in soap bubbles!

When we were children, most of us learned in science class how to create our own rainbows with prisms or water hoses.  We learned that color is light and vibration, that the colors of the rainbow are Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet.  And we discovered that Red has the slowest vibration, while Violet has the highest.  And when we combine all the rainbow light rays, we get brilliant, white light!

One of my most cherished possessions is a Rainbow Maker.  It’s a Swarovski crystal suncatcher that hangs in our bedroom window, and the way it works is that when the sun hits the little solar panel just right, dozens of beautiful rainbows spin around our room--like watching a colorful carousel!  

It reminds me of the story of Pollyanna and the crystal chandelier. She hung up a string of crystal pendants against a sunny window and when she saw the rainbows dancing on the walls, she was so excited that she wanted to tell everyone about the crystal Rainbow Makers and how good these simple prisms would make them feel.  Pollyanna was always glad about something and she gave hope and love to everyone she met.  So, when we think about it, Pollyanna was a Rainbow Maker, too!

Here are some suggestions on how we can use the gift of color to be a rainbow blessing in someone’s cloud:

We can help paint their home a new color.

Or help them sew a colorful quilt.

Organize their closets by color.

Change the curtains in a sick room to something more colorful and cheery.

Help organize their store by color.

Or plant a colorful garden for them.

Help them meditate and discover their chakras.

Or be like Pollyanna and hang beautiful prisms in their window!

We can also lighten someone’s burden by using the energies of the rainbow colors.  For instance, we can use the energy of Red to boost their courage and help conquer a fear.  Or we can encourage stability by helping them find a new job.

Using the energy of Orange, we can help them become more friendly by throwing a party to introduce them to their neighbors.  Or inspire them to be more creative and launch a new arts project.  

Using the energy of Yellow, we can help them study for a test or to learn a new skill that we can teach to others.

Using the energy of Green, we can encourage healthy living by showing them how to prepare a healthy meal.  Or we can take them out into nature to enjoy the healing benefits of smelling a wildflower or hugging a tree.  

Using the energy of Blue, we can encourage them to express their thoughts by presenting them with a brand new journal.  Or we can help them uncover the truth about an issue that has been troubling them.

Using the energy of Indigo, we can help them expand their intuitive gifts by teaching them meditation and the Law of Attraction.  Or we can inspire their imagination by taking them to a science or art museum.  

And finally, we can use the energy of Violet, to help them explore their personal faith.  Or teach them how to go within to find the answers they seek.

One day I hope to manifest a house that has at least one room filled with stained glass windows.  I love this idea because whenever I’ve sat in a building with colored glass windows and the sun was streaming, the colors would illuminate my body and that always made me full of joy.  

Another thing that brings me joy is inspiring and helping others.  One of the most caring souls who ever graced this planet was Audrey Hepburn, the glamorous movie actress and star of My Fair Lady and Breakfast at Tiffany’s.  Onscreen, she dazzled, but it was her beautiful heart and philanthropic work offscreen that were her greatest legacy.  “As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands,” she said.  “One for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”  I think it was the best line she ever spoke!

Maybe we’ve been assessing our own legacy and wondering how we can serve, to make a greater impact, to help uplift others, to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud, to pay it forward—all of those clichés which may have seemed silly before but now have great personal meaning.  

People often hear me say, “Change your colors…and you change your world.”  So if we don’t like what we see or how we are feeling, we always have the choice to select a different color, one that better raises our vibrations and uplift our spirits.

I truly believe that because one of the joys and blessings of living in a colorful world is knowing there are plenty of other colors to play with, just in case we don’t absolutely love the ones we’re with.  

As the old Irish blessing goes, “May a rainbow run beside you in a sky that’s always blue!”