Colour on a dull day makes us all smile, even if it's just the way light becomes luminescent across a field or after dawn looking out of the bedroom window.
Colour can, of course, also be a chance encounter with an old friend, the joy of seeing someone you've not seen for an age and we all know how that feels over the past couple of years.
It can be easy to be swallowed up by the dull days however, the colour around us tends to disappear and we can become, so easily, blind to it. It's at these times that it's also difficult to help loved ones to see the colour when they are down.
Simple things like cooking a side meal or going for a walk can help. But sometimes it can be "just" a hug, a smile or holding a hand.
A small act of kindness can bring a significant piece of colour to someone's day. Whether someone you know or not.
A short early evening walk a few weeks ago through my local pocket park on the way to a shop for supplies, I saw a trans man incredibly sad, on the brink of tears walking the opposite way. I smiled and asked if he was okay and his expression changed. First in disbelief that a stranger would take the time to ask but secondly, that someone had noticed he was sad and was willing to ask.
It had simply been a rough day, he said, combined with having recently have moved to the area, it had made him realise how alone he was. The fact that I had reached out had reassured him and we spoke for while and I described the area, the friendly coffee shops, the LGBTQI friendly pub on the corner and what the pocket park was like in the summer (friendly community events including a large screen showing films and the Wimbledon tennis for all to see).
A simple bit of colour, a small act of kindness, is sometimes the only gift we need to give.
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