Pantone announced the color of the year, yellow and gray. I think this combination of colors is the perfect metaphor for life. I got some reasons why.
2020 was an intense year like no other. It was an original. I feel like it can be described as the year that time stopped for everyone. It was a year that made us spend time with the one person we had been ignoring – ourselves. So, I thought it was brilliant when I heard Pantone’s color of the year and the rational behind it. Let’s get into why.
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Emboldening the spirit, the pairing of PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray + PANTONE 13-0647 highlights our innate need to be seen, to be visible, to be recognized, to have our voices heard.
Reason One
First, just like this color combination, there ia always a duality to life. There is always the contradiction of winning and loosing at the same time. For example, although there are extraordinary moments in life, they are usually paired with other events that are unpleasant. I earned my doctorate in 2020 but then couldn’t enjoy a graduation ceremony due to COVID. My daughter, who was a senior in high school, got into her school of choice. However, because of COVID she wasn’t able to experience the senior year activities. It is always bittersweet.
“In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.” Francis Bacon
Reason Two
Second, yellow and gray remind me of the ebb and flow of energy. Like the push and pull we experience in life. For instance, I feel like there is always an ebb and flow to life, relationships, and creating. Let me explain.
In life there are seasons where things are coming together and there is a flow. It is that energy we feel when things are going well. Conversely, there are times when you feel stuck and perhaps overwhelmed. When there is an ebb to the energy. This can apply to how a relationship is evolving or how you feel when you are creating. The ebb and flow.
“Maybe you have to know the darkness before you can appreciate the light.”
Reason Three
Finally, the gray makes the yellow pop. This combination increases the visual interest of both colors simultaneously. In life, we need to experience the mystery and pensiveness of the dark moments in order to feel the vivacity of the bright moments, right? There are gifts in the dark moments that force you to reflect. Then the bright moments motivate you to act. I know for me, the darker moments in my life have given me an opportunity to reflect. Those moments have helped me improve my relationship with myself and have greater self-awareness.
You can choose to see both or lean into one more than the other. However, you can’t appreciate one without the other.
So, those are the reasons I’m into the color of the year for 2021. The messiness and the joy of it all.
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