And the magic lives on...
"Don't feel lonely; you're never alone"!
When the most natural and humble way of living brings curiosity from strangers!
It might sound like the beginning of a sad story at first. But this is where the magic begins!
Through the emotions related to "the colour psychology", detailed with delightful pictures to share.
The story is about invention, creativity and loneliness, the intergenerational relations.
Analysis
The main themes of the story are loneliness, and the emotions felt through "the colour psychology".
As the Gerry and the Pacemakers song says:" You'll Never Walk Alone".
With hope in your heart when you feel down.
But no golden sky at the end of the storm, but the colours of the rainbow to illustrate all the melancholy and the cheerfulness in people's life...
We usually say that "routine" is a synonym of "comfort". But, unfortunately, "routine" could be your worst enemy, especially for elderly people. In this story, the older man has found an idea to pass the time. Something to change his regular walks and the same view he always sees. It's not about courage, but it's about creativity.
He is doing something new to forget about his loneliness, his past and his sadness. All these memories remind you who you once were and will, somehow, no longer be.
He's decided to change something about his environment, having a plant or flowers he could take care of. To see something creative brought to life and to be responsible for it is extremely rewarding. When you see the beauty of a rose, one of the first things you can think of is how the person has worked hard for it and taken good care of it over time is gratifying.
Every time the older man is sowing a seed to the ground, someone is approaching with a different emotion, expressed with different colours.
1- First person: he is all in blue, and he seems to be sad.
2- Second person: he is all in yellow, and he seems to be happy.
3- Third person: he is all in red, and he seems to be angry.
A seed could easily represent life and the rainbow peace or luck for some. And from a scientific and psychological approach, it's been proven that colours connect with our behaviour and emotions.
The repetitive act of sowing seeds signifies that you want to "hold on to life"!
The new man's "obsession", seeing people coming towards him, slowly decreases his loneliness. He has less desire to be creative, and he's more focused.
We can also note his perseverance. These events help him forget about his loneliness very quickly.
But also, the feeling of satisfaction when accomplishing something new, or at least trying to get close to it, is grand! And so, our spirit gets stronger with time. Especially when we learn new things. What's important here is to find the right balance, realising where we are coming from and where we are going.
What do we want to achieve? How important it is to open ourselves to the world. Without forgetting about our desires and needs.
Although the older man isn't finding true friendship, he is amazed by what is happening like everybody else.
Even when the older man is no longer here, people still remember him and come back to this magical place where everything happened.
The tree is then protected and becomes a memorial, cherished by everyone, remembering the older man and his discovery. Memory is very fragile, and we tend to forget easily. The fear of losing memories of people we care about or lost.
Sometimes, when we lose someone, some need to mourn or move on to cope with a dear one's death.
- Statues, remembrance benches and others are here to help to remember and carry the legacy. It helps with the grief.
"YOU ARE NOT ALONE"!
But sometimes, you can't help yourself but feel alone. No matter how many people you know, how many friends you have.
Intergeneration
If a person yawns, you will yawn. If someone's laughing, you will laugh.
Communicative sensations are helpful to all of us. It's what we call the "Chain Reaction".
So why not children spending time with older adults will boost their literacy skills, socialise more and exercise for both children and older adults?
Feel the comfort of kindness
How can the elderly help the young and help themselves?
By merely playing and reading with children, the elderly are less likely to suffer from loneliness, while the children get more opportunities for quality time and challenge themselves.
These simple activities may improve their wellbeing, their language, their empathy and their social interactions.
It also helps in boosting their motivation, and they want to see them proud.
Concerning the benefits of intergenerational programs for children and older adults, they are effective. We can see differences in the attitudes, positive behaviours and confidence of the young ones.
Experiencing intergenerational interactions benefit older people and will "tackle" loneliness from isolation to improve health and quality of life.
And mostly in mental and physical health for older adults. They are, however, not systematic.
Loneliness in older adults.
Older people are more vulnerable to loneliness, self-isolation and social isolation.
Soon after their retirement, they're missing the routine of getting up in the morning and going to work.
Some might enjoy having an introverted life. Although it decreases symptoms of depression in the long term, the loss of mobility and sometimes, experience less sleep.
It's something that graduates over time. It can only improve through companionship and activities. It is making them forget about time.
They've lost their loved ones; they live alone...
But loneliness is not the same thing as being alone. Depending on how many people you see, if you are in a relationship, living with family.
Sometimes, people still feel lonely.
Professionals might surround you, but you can still be missing your friends and family. Some have passed away or no longer live in the same area. They might not be able to drive, or public transport could be limited...
When you feel lonely, you want to find a way to get some happiness. Strangely, you know that you are missing people's company, but you think it's the most challenging thing to do. You are finding some company. However, you are trying to do something new in your life instead. It's compensating for some.
Once retired, people would immediately have this fear. Or would act crazy! The fear of being alone...
Go for bungee jump to the craziest!- Book for an extended cruise, a vacation.
- Changing hair and clothes style, have your vegetable garden to the simplest.
- Forget about time flying in front of your eyes[...]
Emotional Associations
We are using colours to help identify one of the expressions of a child's emotional interpretations.
They are a description of their own emotional experiences and help to recognise emotions in other people.
A child's emotional and social development are associated with the language used during a conversation.
An expressive language with emotional understanding, a measure of creativity, such as drawing and painting.
Drawing can express emotions and feelings, and art therapy techniques to explore children's present state. We could also detect physical and mental health problems by carers and psychologists.
The way the colours are in the drawings, the shapes can reflect and emphasise emotional states.
We could imagine that bright or preferred colours would lead to positive qualities and dark and/or least favourite colours to negative attributes.
Our favourite and most minor favourite colours could bring memories (good or bad ones).
As we confirmed before, colours affect our emotions and our mood. So what colour would be best in your child's room?
Using calming colours (blue, purple and green) can help to relax children.
During summertime, wearing light blue tranquil the mood and cool down the temperature.
Blue isn't just for a boy's room. Like we mentioned before, it has a calming effect, and it's also the colour to prevent behaviour issues and may benefit from good night sleep.
Bright and warm colours may interfere with naps and bedtime, as it's more an aggressive colour. However, they are great for the playroom.
Associate warm colours with food could be great to stimulate the appetite and entertain during mealtimes.
In addition to these specific actions, spend time talking to your children about how different colours make them feel.
The Colour Psychology
We need a boost of all the colours in our life to find some balance. So, a child won't turn out to be too introverted, too anxious or too angry...
While reading a story, children can relate colour and match it with an emotion felt by the character. A colour with positive emotion and a colour with negative emotion.
What do colours mean?
The impact and the symbolism of the colours may be significant.
We even use different colours to influence people's behaviour, mental health and...potential customers.
So designing a child's room seems to be a minor detail for adults. However, it is crucial to offer a proper environment, entertaining and relaxing. A child will sleep, play by him/herself.
Warm colours, such as red, orange, or yellow, stimulate emotions from anger to warmth.
Red
Red attracts attention to all other colours as the most dominant colour. It creates a stimulating effect on our visual activity and our nervous system functions, which is why you would not see red very often on the walls of a child's room. Using red in the room would excite, increase the heart rate, and even create aggressivity. So it would be more appropriate to use more calming colours (blue, green or purple).
Orange
Orange is often compared with red. Friendly, it represents happiness and sociability with a mix of excitement from red and a bit of energy from yellow.
Adding some orange could be helpful in a room of an introverted child to motivate socialisation.
Yellow
It encourages creativity, the most joyful often represented for the sun. It illuminates a spiritual enthusiast, fun and kindness. However, yellow is an intense colour, and so, it might have the same effect as red.
Cool colours, such as purple, pink, green, or blue, would relax us but too intense could also make us feel sad.
Purple
A mix of red and blue.
Represents elegance and fragility.
It is a calm colour and stimulates the part of the brain related to creativity and relieves tension. Painting the walls in the bedroom to creative activities.
Pink
Pink, a mixture of red and white, is not a vibrant colour. But relaxing and warm at the same time. Pink could psychologically represent femininity and empathy. It is not a suitable colour to use in a room of a shy and introverted child.
Green
It's the "reassuring" colour. It has a calm and peaceful effect on the nervous system, the most relaxing one.
A mix of the blue and its serenity and the joyful effect of the yellow reminds us of natural wellbeing
Associated with health and safety, we see it every day at the pharmacy and on the road at the traffic light.
Blue
Blue is the opposite of red. It reminds us of the cold and so the opposite of the excitement of red. It calms us by lowering blood pressure. Blue evokes comfort and spaciousness as the sky and the sea. But darker it gets, and more depressive and melancholic it may become. Blue is used to help a child sleep peacefully.
