Daniel Owen

I don’t understand how anyone can not want colour in their life. When you are around colour, you feel happy. When you see colour in unexpected places. it makes you smile. Think about when you’ve seen brightly coloured houses: perhaps in Cape Town, or the favelas of Rio, maybe Tobermory. or – closer to (my) home – Bristol or Appledore. How much cheerier it looks than just boring magnolia, or bare brick (or, worse still, bare concrete).

We seem to be constantly told that bright colours are for children, that colour doesn’t belong in public spaces, or in our grown-up lives. In workplaces with dress codes, chances are you will be dressed in some combination of black, white, grey, navy, maybe something neutral like a beige or a taupe. Men in particular are expected to dress in a neutral palette. Company cars, too, are in ‘safe’ black, white or grey. Think how much joy we would feel, even on the dullest, dampest, coldest day, if our outside spaces were filled with colour – on the buildings, the cars, and the people. Picture a street scene filled with colour, and now try and imagine it cold there, or silent. You can’t – the colour brings its own warmth and music and conversation.

My hobby is collecting and using fountain pens, and I have realised that one of the main reasons this hobby brings me so much pleasure is the extra colour it brings to my life. Here’s the most recent page from my ink journal – my record of each pen and ink that I use:

I have such an amazing selection of inks to choose from – 87 and counting – and even if I’m just taking notes for work, or jotting down a shopping list, seeing the colour on the page in a beautiful broad line (rather than the thin, flat, black line of a biro) lifts my spirits a little with every word written.

Whenever you are feeling low, seek out colour – whether it’s rainbow coloured shop fronts, or a cheery café, or just a bright t-shirt. Neutral never brought joy. No smile was ever raised by drabness. Fill your life with colour, and banish the monotone. You won’t regret it.