Day 19 – What Color Describes Your Personality and Why?

I am having a tough time with this one. I love the creative place that this challenge takes my brain, but today, I am truly stuck.

First off, I despise going to the paint store because I do not see a need for a billion shades of yellow. Not to mention that Dawn and I see colors differently,; perfectly normal, but I look at a swatch and say that is a nice shade of orange and she tells me it is some type of yellow I have never heard of. Or perhaps it is orange, but it is burnt orange, not just orange. WHAT?! I know my colors and I’m pretty sure that I am not color blind. For this reason, she goes to the store, alone. First off, I do most of the construction and finish work myself, but when it comes to the finishing touches, like paint color, she is excellent at the decorative stuff and I usually like what she chooses. She brings home a handful of samples that she really likes and then I get to give her my thoughts on one or all of those. In the end, it will be what she truly likes that wins. But for me, colors of paint are usually not a deal killer and always look nice. I am also lucky that she would not ever want to paint our bedroom pink, so there is that. We recently painted the guest room purple.

Dawn: “It’s not purple, it’s lavender!”

Me: “Ok, yes dear, it is lavender, which is a kind of purple.”

Dawn: “It is nothing like purple!”

Me: “You’re right babe, I love it!”

I would have never chose “lavender”, but it looks great in the space and it does make the room feel pleasant.

Back to the color that describes my personality and why. But, in true Tommy fashion, I am going to add a twist and throw deep thought out there.

I like woodworking, and I prefer stain over paint. Less options and it usually allows the natural grain and character of the wood to shine through. And, unlike paint, the item that I am applying the stain to will have a different color depending on the type of wood. I believe the same can be said for paint color personality. Each person who thinks they may be, for example red, will be a different shade of red than the next person.

I prefer natural wood color with just an oil or clear lacquer finish. I also prefer wood that has knots, chinks, dents, etc. I like it to have character. There are some beautiful striations of grain that run through wood, creating a character that can never be matched. These grains show its growth and is an indication of how it lived its life. But, every once in a while, there is a knot or blemish in the wood. Oh sure, I could sand and fill the imperfection, but then it would look like every other piece of wood. I could cover it up with dark stain or paint, but then how would my project stand out from others. Just like the convertible learning tower I made pictured above.

As you may have gathered by now, I am substituting the wood project for myself. A never ending project, I am; peppered with flaws and blemishes, perfectly imperfect. Just ask Dawn.

On second thought, don’t ask her.

I have come to realize that our individual personality is just that, individual. A one off that can not, and should not, be duplicated. I do not have a color because I am learning to accept and adapt to who I am in that moment. Just like that piece of raw material that I am going to use to build a beautiful piece of furniture, I have flaws and imperfections that are unique to me. Regardless of what color I “feel” like, I have to accept that I have flaws and imperfections that should not be covered up for these are the things that make each of us unique.

I recognize that this is a crappy response, but it saves me a trip to the paint store with Dawn to try to identify what shade of orange I am. HAHA On most days, I like to look at the sample wall that life has presented and instead of trying to figure out what color I am, try to accept and adapt.

May y’all be happy, healthy, and safe, with whatever color you display.

t.t.