The Power of Red

Color plays such an integral part in our lives that we sometimes forget the  psychological and emotional impact it can have on us. 

Hospital rooms are painted in soothing colors and hues because of their calming effect on the human psyche. While emerald or cadmium yellow walls in a kitchen might make food seem less appealing, plum-colored walls might induce you eat or relax with a glass of wine. Red enhances the appetite. Blue walls in your living room might carry your thoughts out to sea or return you to peaceful moments when you gazed at the sky.

Red is a power color. Red lights stop traffic. Flashing red lights atop a fire engine or ambulance scream 'Emergency - out of the way!' Conversely, anyone who's peered into a sunset can tell you of the restorative power of red. 

In health, ‘in the pink’ is good, while in finance, 'in the red' is bad.

Communists used to be 'reds.' Red was the color of the Soviet and Chinese flags. 

Throughout history, the color red called for upheaval, battle, and blood.

Red is for passion, like a Valentine heart. When I visited Amsterdam in the 90s, prostitutes in the Red Light district bathed their shop windows with ruby red lamps. 

When I was a kid, red cough syrup always  tasted the best, and In grade school we chewed gummy cherry cough drops in class, until the nuns realized we considered them like candy. (We were conditioned early on to be pharmaceutical junkies.)

Scientists say that the red stars in our night skies are the largest in the galaxy, and they burned as normal stars eons ago before now nearing the end of their life cycle.

In photography, reds and other warm hues seem to move forward while cool colors recede.

Here are some reds from my photo collection.

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