What's your favorite color?

The only question you need to know someone

Photo by Husen Siraaj on Unsplash

You know when you’ve just met someone and they ask you a typical icebreaker question that you initially think is dumb and then you weirdly get into it? Like really into? Like so into it you decide to write about it? 

So, um, what’s your favorite color?

I think of blue mostly. Whatever is going on in my life, at least I have the sky to look up to. That's sky blue. I think how lucky I am to have woken up to a blue sky almost everyday. I never had to check the weather, and if I had, it would have said sunny, with clear skies. I think how lucky I am to have seen big skies my whole life.

But sky blue is rare and I found out it’s not as dependable as I originally thought it to be. In some places, gray is the norm, the gray that makes me stay inside and cozily bundle up with a good book, the gray that makes me brood, the gray that makes me yearn for blue again. And when the clouds part, I can breathe again. It’s the blue that I could stare at forever, like when I’m on an airplane and I pick the window seat and I stare at the sky for I don’t know how long, and then the food comes and I turn my head and am blinded, blinking my way to sight again. Do you know that kind of blue?

They say your favorite colors are based on objects you like that you associate with that color. Your favorite color is perhaps different than the color you like to wear. Your favorite color is the one that makes you feel something. 

And then I think about the ocean. Perhaps sky blue isn’t my favorite color after all. Ocean blue is on my mind, that vastness that lies beneath, unknown worlds below. It makes me think of humpback whales, a mother and her baby waving and playing. It makes me think of staring far out onto the horizon, waves crashing. My mind wanders. And then an image comes to mind; long stretches of white sand beaches alongside turquoise blue water. Gasp. Delight. Immediate joy. Mesmerizing. That is my favorite color. Turquoise. What a color. 

I decide to read this article explaining why some water is more blue than others, 

One last thing that works in these little slices of paradise is the fact that the waters are exceptionally calm. These destinations tend to experience less "upwelling," which NOAA explains is when the wind blows "across the ocean surface," pushing the water away. "Water then rises up from beneath the surface to replace the water that was pushed away." Though the water that rises up is nutrient-rich, it also comes with "high biological productivity," which turns it a murkier shade. 

There is something so fitting that a color that imbues calm, requires calm. Perhaps that is part of its lure. It’s very essence and reason for existing is calm. Memories of my childhood swimming in the Mediterranean and Red Sea appear, untarnished, and stamped in my mind. I think back to my solo trip to a small island off Madagascar’s east coast. It taught me that all I need to reset are days and days of waking up to a crystal blue ocean, with a dose of splashing and immersing myself every twenty minutes, unbothered by anything. That is my happiest state.

So similar to blue, they say turquoise blue is connected to calm, serenity and peace, uplifting the spirit as well as body. This is a color that helps balance emotional imbalances and stimulates reflection. I did not know a color could clear my mind, quell my queries. I suppose that I will always chase this color, emanating the tranquility of blue, the growth of green, and the energy of yellow. It is probably not unique, or profound, or anything new. But wow, it oddly feels enlightening. I understand now why I seek it. 

‘What’s your favorite color?’ They ask. I suck in my breath knowingly, because it turns out I have something to say.

Do you?

-Priscilla xo