......colorblind

Yogis,
As you know I love to photograph bugs. Butterflies, beetles, spiders, bees……. have all found themselves on the other end of my camera lens. And they come in every color.

The velvety black of the tiger swallowtail floating against a clear blue sky. A praying mantis camouflaged perfectly as her green body hides among the stalks of my sunflower bush.  Dragonflies donned in orange, blue, brown and today one in such a vibrant green, it didn’t look possible. The red of the ladybug. They come in every color. A rainbow flying through the garden.

When I describe a bug to you, one of the first descriptive words I will use is its color. The color it is wrapped in is ones of its glorious details. Would I want all bugs to be yellow? Or blue? Of course not! Do I pretend to be colorblind in the garden? Of course not!

So why do we do it with humans?

When we claim to be colorblind our intention is to indicate that we don’t want race to be a distinguishing characteristic, but in the end, it has the opposite effect. To claim colorblindness is a pretty good indication that there may be something inherently ‘not as good’ in one color versus another. If all colors were considered beautiful, why wouldn’t we sing them out!

I remember times in a conversation where I was describing a black community member, while trying not to say the word black. I realize now that is ridiculous. We each have a skin color and like the bugs they are all different, all unique and all should be celebrated. And like the bugs, the skin color we happen to carry around does not determine our personality, our intelligence, or our goodness. All colors are beautiful. All colors are necessary.

None of these are easy conversations. They are uncomfortable and awkward, but we can and must learn a new vocabulary. We are not colorblind. Just as you notice if my gray roots are coming in, you notice the color of my skin. The work is to acknowledge it, be comfortable with it and dig deep to understand any preconceptions your mind latches on to when you see color.

Let’s stop being colorblind and see colors, and love every one of them……..

Humans. A rainbow passing through this garden we all share.

I see you,
SARAH