For 40 years I have been a closet lover of orange. I don’t mean the citrus variety. I mean the colour.
I used to have a beloved orange t-shirt, covered in black spots. And there are two reasons why I stopped wearing that t-shirt.
My sister told me there were too many spots (i.e. there was too much me, hence a greater volume of fabric and therefore number of spots was required to wear the t-shirt).
It was a devastating blow and one, my sister told me, only a sister with the very best intentions could deliver.
In her defence, she is always encouraging me to exercise and love chocolate less than I do. And perhaps one day I will listen to her health advice.
The second reason is that my husband told me he hated that t- shirt. It took some prompting, but eventually he disclosed his hatred of the colour orange (he likes green).
The t-shirt barely saw the light of day after this, despite me looking longingly at it for some time before it made its way to Lifeline.
Since that time, all things orange (and mostly spotty) have been avoided.
But the time has come for this to change. It is time for me to re-light my world.
I’m not planning to go out and splurge on all things orange. I’m not about to join the hare krishna movement or hug an orangutan.
I don’t even have my eye on anything orange, but it is freeing to admit, that despite the views of those held dearest, my unwavering closet love is now exposed. And all this without therapy.
I mean each to his own. But who doesn’t love the glow of the sky at sunset?
Who doesn’t love the juicy, bursting flavour of a naval orange? Who doesn’t look longingly at an apricot, pulverise a pumpkin into soup, play traffic lights with capsicum?
Who doesn’t feel some comfort from the fluoro orange of the crossing guard’s vest? (Okay, maybe I have gone too far thinking about fluoro in any colour.)
But if you like something, you like it. I don’t profess to understand why people have favourite colours. Come to think about that, mine is red, but what do you get when you mix this with yellow? Hey? Hey?
Orange, they say is the colour of optimism and rejuvenation.
It is the colour of happiness, joy, exuberance.
I may have abandoned my favourite shirt all that time ago, but I have been orange on the inside for all of that time.
