Jessy's Well

I have a problem with hair colors in tubes.

I cannot simply look at them. They have to come out of the tube and jump on my head.

Over the years, my hair has been dark burgundy, fiery red, blue, pink, brown, and several colors somewhere in between. Right now, it is a kind of blonde-ginger. For how long? I make no promises.

After looking at the same woman in the mirror for a while, I begin to think she needs something. Not a new life. Just a little change.

A different hair color can do that for me. It gives me pleasure. There is also a slightly naughty pleasure in hearing someone say, "Oh, you did it again!" Or, "That is certainly an interesting color, but it looks good on you." My friends just look at me and say “you’re crazy.”  

Yes, I did it again. And thank you.

Choosing the next color has even become something enjoyable to share with my daughter and granddaughter. We look at different possibilities and ask, "Which direction should we go next?"

Thankfully, I also have a good hairdresser. Some adventures should not be attempted without professional supervision.

A daredevil?

Perhaps this is where the daredevil in me comes out.

I am not necessarily looking for danger. But show me an unusual print, an unexpected combination of colors, or a hair color that requires a little courage, and something in me wakes up. 

Of all the pleasures associated with our feminine side, such as perfume, jewelry, makeup, and shoes, clothes are probably my favorite.

Part of the pleasure is daring to wear what attracted me without needing everyone else to understand it.

My wardrobe does not contain only one mood or one safe version of me. There are dresses and blouses in different colors and styles because different things attract me at different moments.

Sometimes what I wear reflects my mood. Other times, I choose what to wear because I would like my mood to receive a little assistance.

Many women know those mornings.

You wake up tired. You have somewhere to go, but you do not particularly want to go. You stand before your closet wondering what could possibly persuade you to participate in the day.

Then you see it.

A dress. A colorful blouse. A print that seems to have more energy than you do.

You put it on, look at yourself, and think, "Yes. All right. I can work with this."

The tiredness may not disappear, and the day has not suddenly solved all its problems. But something has shifted. You can walk into the room differently. Perhaps you can even own the place for a little while.

Some reach for lipstick. Some women put on their killer heels when they are feeling down, have a point to prove, or have developed a slightly wicked but entirely respectable plan to conquer the day.

Mine may be a dress, a print, or a new color on my head.

Borrowing from every season

September is what started me thinking about all this.

I lived in Argentina for two years, and I had never experienced seasons before. I still remember my first 21st of September there. It is called Spring Day. 

I could not stop looking at the flowers, the sunshine, and the change of mood in nature and in the people around me.

Years later, in the Netherlands and the United States, the same month meant autumn. The leaves changed color and fell, and the trees were stripped of their clothes.

One part of the world reaches for lighter colors and flowers while another brings out burgundy, brown, olive, and rust.

Here in Aruba, September does not arrive wearing boots and carrying orange leaves. The weather does not suddenly tell us to put away one group of colors and begin wearing another.

We can borrow from every season.

I can wear autumn colors in fabric suitable for the Caribbean heat. I can wear a bright floral print because my mood has decided it is spring. The calendar may say September, the weather may say summer, and my wardrobe may be having a completely different conversation.

Perhaps that is one of the freedoms of living without four distinct seasons. Sometimes we dress for the weather, sometimes for the occasion, and sometimes for the mood we hope will meet us along the way.

Creation was already wearing it

But the pleasure of color goes far beyond clothes.

I feel it when I work in the garden or prepare a guest room. A designer must experience something similar when looking at colors, fabrics, shapes, and textures and imagining how they could come together.

Then nature quietly reminds all of us who had the ideas first.

Green grass with small purple flowers growing through it. A bird wearing colors that should not work together, yet somehow do. Butterflies, feathers, petals, shells, spots, and stripes.

Fashion did not invent animal print. It noticed it.

Long before anyone placed a print on fabric, creation was already wearing it.

When I look at that abundance of color and variety, I cannot imagine creation as a dull or joyless act.

God did not give us only one flower, one shade of green, one kind of bird, or one acceptable combination of colors. Creation carries variety everywhere.

Perhaps part of our delight in beauty is our response to that generosity.

We do not create color from nothing. We discover it. We combine it. We place it on walls, grow it in gardens, arrange it in vases, put it on our faces, wear it on our bodies, and sometimes persuade it to jump out of a tube and onto our heads.

What attracts you?

Clothes may not be your pleasure. Perhaps it is painting, decorating, gardening, arranging flowers, preparing a beautiful table, or combining flavors in the kitchen.

What attracts you?

What do you create or arrange simply because the beauty of it gives you pleasure?

And is there something that attracts you, but you have not yet had the courage to try?

Not every woman wants blue hair, killer heels, or a dress that enters the room before she does. Some women enjoy seeing another woman carry it off. Some admire something daring but are not yet ready to try their own version. Others genuinely prefer a quieter style.

The question is not whether we all dare in the same way.

The question is whether we allow ourselves to enjoy what genuinely attracts us.

Your version of daring may be wearing a color you normally avoid. It may be trying a different lipstick, painting a wall, planting an unexpected combination of flowers, or finally displaying something beautiful that has remained hidden in a cupboard.

What would you wear, create, display, or try if you were not worried that someone else might find it strange?

Sometimes we become so busy using, organizing, and cleaning things that we forget to enjoy them. Perhaps we need to step back and notice the beauty that has already been placed around us.

No, a colorful dress cannot solve everything. A new hair color cannot repair a difficult day. Even the most determined pair of killer heels has its limitations.

But beauty can offer us a moment of delight. Color can bring freshness. Creativity can help us meet an ordinary day with a little more life. And a small act of daring can remind us that there are still different versions of ourselves waiting to be enjoyed.

Sometimes, that is enough reason to try.

"Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are." (Matthew 6:28-29 N.L.T)

To the One who created colors, prints, style, and moods: salute! And thank You for this ordinary but deep-seated satisfaction that beauty brings in our daily life.