Color me beautiful…
In 1980, Carole Jackson authored one of the most successful, widely popular books on personal color analysis, titled: Color Me Beautiful. She became a pop-culture icon, developing a successful, related retail model, while inspiring hundreds of imitators. I am 98% certain if I go into my parents’ library, a copy of that book can still be found on the shelves, my Mom having been an active devotee, given her instinctive understanding of color, together with her love of art and interior design. It was a natural extension for her to translate this understanding to people. And she was very good at it.
I was not good at it. So, I spent a lot of time wearing beige. Let’s be honest, I spent a lot of time BEING beige. Now, don’t get me wrong, it so happens beige IS one of “my colors.” It looks good on me, and provided a safe outfit haven in the tricky months of late March through late May, and early September through mid-October, in the mid-Atlantic region where I lived, for many years. That said, it is another thing, entirely, to realize I was BEING beige. And I realized that, for the first time, in September 2001.
As I was writing a memory and personal tribute, in honor of this heartrending anniversary, I wrote about it being a wake up call, for me. The roots of Juno Capital Strategy, LLC trace their nascence to the hours following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on our country. I was extraordinarily lucky to be 3,700 miles away from my adopted city, on that day. That bright, beautiful Tuesday morning in September was my first day in-country, reuniting with my family where my younger sister lived, in Southern France. It was a day filled with color, friendship and adventure, until the call came that shattered all of it. When I look back at pictures from our morning, before our whole world changed, I finally noticed what I was wearing. A vibrant floral Kenzo scarf and the gorgeous grape colored crop pants, my Mom had given me for my birthday, earlier that year, but that I hadn’t yet worn. Because, I was being beige. I could “get away with” grape colored crops and a brilliantly colored scarf, on vacation. I didn’t dare, in “real” life. In “real” life, I believed I needed to be beige. Nondescript. Paying my dues, and patiently waiting for the day I might be “allowed” to live in color, give voice and life to my dreams.
That Tuesday afternoon, standing in a lavender field, clutching my sister’s mobile phone, after managing to get two miracle phone calls through to CT and NYC, before the second tower collapsed and all the lines went down, ceasing all communication, from the outside world, I stared into a brilliant afternoon sun, setting that lavender field ablaze in color. I didn’t know it then, but a seed was planted. A resolve to find my voice, and then use it. A resolve to define my dreams, and then live them.
Twenty years have passed since that afternoon, but I can close my eyes and see, smell and feel that moment in that far-away lavender field. I still fell back into being beige, from time to time, because life never presents us with a straight journey. However, the seed had been planted. And the journey educated, honed and clarified what I want my life to be, how I want to spend my precious resources of time and talent. The journey gave me courage, as I know that it is in adversity we also find clarity, creativity and commitment. These past 18 months of Covid have presented remarkable adversity, but they have also produced clarity, creativity and commitment. You see, being beige had started to present itself as the way to go. A well-worn path presenting itself as the answer, promising far fewer challenges, after being pummeled by them, for months. But every time, rising up from that long-ago planted seed, Robert Frost’s gentle guidance, in the final stanza of his beloved poem, The Road Less Traveled :
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Yes, it has been QUITE the journey, ages and ages hence, and recently riddled with unimaginable adversity.
But!
It has also produced clarity, creativity and commitment. Creating Juno Capital Strategy, LLC brought brilliant, colorful life to one of my dearest dreams, and I did so that I may help others give life to their dreams! I am on my road less traveled, and I am determined that it make all the difference. Because, one of the ways we honor the sacrifices of the past, is to keep walking, to carry on and LIVE! Do you also look great in beige, but are ready for a change, ready to take YOUR road, bringing vibrant colorful life to your dreams? Every dream realized starts with an idea, fed by knowledge, watered by encouragement. Start on your path to your dream, today! We are here to help. Let’s Talk!
