Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Real Talk: Thinking & Loving in Color

Photo by the amazingly sweet and talented Emily of Gem Photo

I'm going to let you all in on a little secret: I totally love Taylor Swift. Other than her "Never Getting Back Together" jingle, I find her songs quite adorable and relatable.  I'm a country girl at heart, I'm telling you I think I was supposed to live in the South where the people are sweet as pie, the songs are twangy and the tea is coming out the wazoo.  Have you heard Taylor's new CD yet? I don't think there's a more perfect song to sum up me, my life in the last few months and just my personality in general. 


You see, as a design-enamored soul, I think in color, my world is focused on bringing color to life, and my brain operates best when there is color surrounding me. In fact, I memorize things very easily if they are color-coded.  Sometimes when I think of people, I associate colors with their names, faces and personalities. I play a game in my head where I try to guess people's favorite hue before they tell me, just based on their personality.  It's a little weird, right? Can anyone relate?


While in interior design school, I've been able to take many classes related to color and the psychology behind certain hues. It's proven that blue is calming and unappetizing, purple brings serenity, green promotes growth, yellow gives us energy {and really upsets babies if they're in a yellow room for too long!}, and red...well, aside from making you hungry, red makes your heart race. A shade of scarlet truly causes your heart rate to skyrocket. It's the color of love & pain, both the same.  In her new hit song, Taylor compares colors with her last love, and I couldn't relate more. When I wrote this post about my recent break up, I should have beat her to it and wrote this song instead.


Lately I've been thinking about what it looks like to live life when it isn't as it appears on Style Me Pretty, and being completely and totally okay with that.  As a young woman surrounded by design, weddings, blogs of women who tell their love stories and share their pregnancy journeys, I find myself so badly longing for it all.  You see, when you're in a serious relationship and you think that is precisely where life is heading for you and then it is so suddenly broken, you are left with uncertainty. What you feel like you're left with is a whole lot of nothing, but in fact, I've found it's quite the opposite. While loving that guy was red like the song says, I think growing more in character, trusting God through this time and being so entirely excited about my future is like a bright melon or peachy orange.  To me it's the color of excitement and warmth, one that brings enthusiasm and hope. And I have a lot of hope.


So if I could add to my girl Taylor's lyrics, I'd add a little orange in there, just for good measure. So we'll make this post a part two to the post I wrote a few months ago, letting you into this part of my life again. It's amazing how God meets you right where you are; how He picks you up, reconciles your pain and heals your heart when you feel like you can't go on.

Thoughts on the above are welcome- the part on color, love, the broken heart part, the God part, or even the country-music-loving part. Any and all :) And yes I mean all. Last time I posted on this I received a few interesting/insensitive anonymous comments, but I left them up. 

That's is where my mind has been lately. You also now know what is on repeat in my car. In case you haven't heard it, here's the song:
Red by Taylor Swift on Grooveshark 
 Have a happy, hopeful and exciting day- no matter your circumstances!
Love,
Photobucket

19 comments

  1. love how you poured your heart into this post. just remember that life is full of seasons (and colors!). and having faith that God has put you into this season of your life for a purpose. even though you may feel down, God will lift us up in mercy as we lift him up in praise Him.

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  2. Sweet, sweet girl! God has an incredible future full of more colors than you could ever imagine! Thank you for sharing your heart today. Bold and vulnerable, I know the Lord is speaking through you to those of us who are feeling much the same. It's easy to fit life into a box and adjust the settings to display it is pretty and quaint, all pieced together. But sometimes life is messy and sometimes you feel like you're treading water. But God is faithful! "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever!" (Psalm 73:26 has been a great encouragement to me in these places). I hope the orange in your life becomes brighter, and brighter by the day. Praying blessings for you today, friend :)

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  3. Aw sweet friend.. I love this post. And I so relate to it as well... it's not always easy to "trust", but there are times when that burst of excitement for life, including all of its uncertainties, gives you a boost of renewed energy and faith. Hugs to you!

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  5. Can I just say... I so wish you were a southern girl, too. :) I this we could be BFF in real life. You've got such a sweet, loving heart. I am consistently inspired by your positivity and your trust in the Lord, no matter what. I'm currently in a situation with school where I can either trust in the Lord have have joy, or I can be miserable and fail to trust him where he's said he will come through. You encourage me to trust, trust, trust! Thank you for that, sweet friend. So thankful for the friendship we have!

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  6. God's timing is the best, and sometimes that is hard, but I am glad to hear your thoughts on your life and finding the happiness that Jesus wants for you now as opposed to constantly thinking about the future. I firmly believe that your dreams will become your reality, but it's just not time yet, and that's okay.

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  7. I love Taylor Swift, this song, and this post. Can't wait to get my hands on this CD. I know God has a plan for you that includes a whole rainbow of colors. xox

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  8. You are wise beyond your years my friend. You're so right -- the Lord is going to bless you even more as you trust and HOPE in him. I spent almost a year with a broken heart and tears and learned to trust Him through it, and then by grace, came Cam. I can't wait to see all that's ahead for you!!

    Love and blessings.

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  9. Love her new album! She has such a way of articulating so many emotions that can relate to almost anyone at some point in their life. I know you are going to find someone soon because God has a perfect plan for you! :)

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  10. Michaela, you're a beautiful writer and designer, and I can't tell you how much I relate to everything you've said. I don't know why I had no idea that yellow upsets babies, but I did know that red makes you hungry and yellow makes you move quickly...totally McDonald's tactic for getting a lot of people in and out, you know? I think I'm the only person out of my friends and family amazed by the new direction that McDonald's has completely taken, ha.

    Besides design, I know how you feel with a breakup. :( My senior year of college also, I realized that my boyfriend of 3 years just wasn't who I would end up with for the rest of my life. The breakup was hard, but necessary for both of us. Sweet girl, you never know what's around the corner! I started grad school the next summer, and then my dad got cancer (it's gone now!), and I felt broken inside. What I didn't know was that I would benefit from seeing my family so much, enjoying the beauty of Texas on those weekly EARLY morning drives, and that I would run into my old boyfriend from high school (who is now my husband). I think you have amazing things in store, beautiful girl!

    Oh, and I totally love Taylor Swift! Thanks so much for sharing her new song...I didn't now about it! Thank you also so much for your insanely sweet comments on Friday!

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  11. I hadn't heard the song until now. I'm glad you found it, it's almost like the album came out at the perfect time, just for you. It found you. Music is so good for the soul I think that way. Another good song you might like that helps me stay positive, is "Heaven when we're home" by The Wailin' Jennys. Great song.
    You are such an amazing person you deserve the best so the only reason he isn't in your life and why you weren't meant to be is because he isn't the best!
    Stay smiling girly! :)

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  12. "It's amazing how God meets you right where you are; how He picks you up, reconciles your pain and heals your heart when you feel like you can't go on." ---Absolutely love that. I couldn't agree more.

    Also anytime you want to come to the South...hit me up! I'm all about the country music, sweet tea sipping, Southern life :)

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  13. ah i just love your sweet face and i cannot wait to give you the biggest hug in december!

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  14. I'm in the weirdly-colour-wired-brain club too! Sometimes I can't remember certain combinations of numbers (like my phone number....) because for me each number has its own colour and when grouped together they can be really ugly. I guess my brain refuses to process ugly?
    And I secretly love Taylor too ;)

    Blessings to you!

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  15. Yes, you should have been a southern girl...but you can't help where your mom and dad live! LOL

    Having been through it myself, and having watched my daughter go through it as well, I can tell you God has bigger and better plans for you!!

    I love the color association!!

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  16. This is so beautiful, Mich!! I love all of it...and Taylor, of course!! And I definitely think that you should have been born in the south. Louisiana to be exact! : )

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  17. I have taken Interior Design classes for fun and just love it!! The color scheme of my home is blue, cream, brown with shots of orange-y red. After reading your little list, I'm thinking that maybe I shouldn't have painted my dining room blue! Maybe that's why I'm not hungry all the time...but that could be a blessing in disguise?! :)

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  18. This is an incredible post, Michaela! I'm a big fan of Taylor, as well, and Maile is becoming one, too!

    I'm so sorry to hear of your recent breakup, but I also know that YOU know that God has a plan for your life, including in relationships. Sending a big hug, and an extra dose of orange your way!

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  19. So sorry about the breakup..When I was 21 in college my boyfriend and I broke up after a long relationship and it was heartbreaking and I did run to Jesus to help me. It was a very hard time for me and by the grace of God I pulled through. You are an inspiration to many young girls and you just need to keep your thoughts captive because you are on the right track. The Lord has special plans for you! Jeremiah 29:11-13

    XOXO Desiree

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Thank you for stopping by! If you have a specific question, please email me at hello@michaelanoelledesigns.com. I always reply to emails! Have a blessed day! xoxo

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