28. A world without colour

Well it would be pretty boring, wouldn't it? Colour is fun!

There was a time when I was anti colour. There's still a lot of black in my wardrobe, but when I was at uni it was pretty much all black. When we started uni, a friend of mine said "we don't want to end up being those clicheed theatre students who are always in black", but that's what we ended up as.

On my 21st I decided I wanted to buck my self imposed trend and wear something bright, but it turned out the only costume that fit me at the costume hire place was black. Black taffeta, with black lace and black beading. Black.

Still, it was a pretty great dress.

I think my black clothes started off as an effort to be kind of cool, and then it became serviceable, and then it became a way to hide lumps and bumps (which, let's face it, weren't at all hidden). Then I decided that colour was good. And I didn't mind being seen. So I started wearing more colour.

Also makeup. This isn't a newsflash, but when you put colour on your face it can transform you. Normally I don't bother much with it unless I'm dressing up, but I'm starting to see the value in at least putting colour on my lips - I look in the mirror and surprise myself that I don't look like a half-baked zombie. Mum recently bought me a bright grape coloured lipstick and every time I've worn it people comment on how good it looks.

The colour surrounding you every day is pretty important; I agree that it influences mood. At work we have bright teal feature walls in each office, which are pretty positive. I'm also still thinking of painting my room a deep, jewel-tone colour and even though it probably won't happen for ages (at least, probably not until warmer weather for faster drying times), I like having the paint chips up on my wall.

And natural colour is amazing. Some days, if I am looking at a particularly blue body of water, or a blazing azure sky, or vivid green hills, it feels like my soul is getting a drink.

Then there's this sort of thing:

At the SEA Aquarium in Sentosa. I could have watched these guys all day.

Don't you feel sorry for those fish that live so deep in the ocean that it's black all the time and they are just drab and they never see anything like this? Actually, do fish even see colour? Hmm.

Colour is good.