Today I bought a book about colors.
It wasn’t a novel or a photography book. It was simply a book dedicated to colors. Different shades, different combinations, different stories hidden inside every color. I had wanted it for quite some time, and today I finally walked out of the bookstore with it in my hands.
As I stepped outside, something unexpected happened.
Nothing around me had changed.
The streets were the same. The buildings stood exactly where they had always stood. Cars continued passing by. People hurried from one place to another. It was an ordinary day in every possible way.
Yet I smiled.
I looked down at the book I was holding, and one simple word appeared in my mind.
Colors.
For a brief moment, everything felt different.
Not because the world had suddenly become more beautiful, but because I had started noticing its beauty again.
The colors had been there all along.
Sometimes I think everyday life has a quiet way of covering everything with a black-and-white filter.
Not because our lives become empty, but because routines slowly teach us to stop noticing.
We wake up, check our phones, make coffee, drive the same roads, answer the same emails, prepare dinner, wash dishes, go to sleep, and repeat it all again tomorrow.
Little by little, we stop looking.
We begin recognizing instead of seeing.
A tree becomes just another tree.
The sky becomes today’s weather.
The flowers beside the sidewalk become part of the background.
Even the people we love can slowly become part of our routine instead of the miracle they truly are.
It isn’t that life has lost its colors.
It is simply that we have become used to them.
Our minds are remarkable. They are designed to save energy. Once something becomes familiar, our attention quietly moves elsewhere.
That helps us function.
But sometimes it also makes us forget to truly live.
I think many of us believe we are waiting for life to become colorful again.
We tell ourselves things like:
“When summer comes…”
“When work becomes less stressful…”
“When we move…”
“When the children grow older…”
“When I have more time…”
“When life finally slows down…”
But what if the colors aren’t waiting in the future?
What if they are already here?
Maybe we have simply been looking through the wrong lens.
Not long ago, I wrote on my Facebook page about one of my black-and-white photographs of a Rubik’s Cube.
Even without its bright reds, blues, yellows, and greens, everyone knows those colors are still there.
The black-and-white image doesn’t erase them.
It only hides them.
Life often works the same way.
There are seasons when everything feels gray.
Responsibilities pile up.
Dreams seem distant.
The days blend together.
We become tired.
We become distracted.
Sometimes we even convince ourselves that the joy has disappeared.
But perhaps it hasn’t disappeared at all.
Perhaps we are only looking through a temporary filter.
Because joy still exists.
Hope still exists.
Curiosity still exists.
Wonder still exists.
Love certainly still exists.
They have simply become quieter beneath the noise of everyday life.
The beautiful thing is that we don’t always need dramatic changes to bring those colors back.
Sometimes all it takes is paying attention.
Watching sunlight move across a wooden table.
Listening to a child laugh without checking your phone.
Smelling fresh coffee before taking the first sip.
Reading a good book.
Walking without rushing.
Watching rain through the window.
Calling someone you haven’t spoken to in a while.
Looking into the eyes of the person sitting across from you instead of at another screen.
These moments don’t create the colors.
They reveal them.
The older I become, the more I believe happiness isn’t about collecting extraordinary moments.
It’s about noticing the extraordinary hidden inside ordinary ones.
Color has never really been about paint.
It has always been about perspective.
Some people can travel to the most beautiful places in the world and still see only gray.
Others can sit on a simple park bench and discover an entire rainbow in a quiet afternoon.
The difference isn’t the place.
The difference is attention.
Maybe that is why today’s little purchase meant so much more than just buying another book.
That book quietly reminded me of something I already knew but had almost forgotten.
The world has not become less colorful.
Life has not lost its beauty.
Neither have I.
Neither have you.
Sometimes we simply need a gentle reminder to remove the filter we’ve allowed routine to place over our eyes.
The colors are still waiting in the morning sky.
They are still hiding in conversations with people we love.
They are still blooming beside sidewalks.
They are still dancing in children’s laughter.
They are still found inside dreams we haven’t given up on.
And perhaps the most beautiful color of all is the one we carry within ourselves.
Because no difficult season, no routine, no disappointment, and no ordinary Tuesday can ever truly erase it.
It can be forgotten.
It can be hidden.
It can become difficult to see.
But it never disappears.
Today, a simple book about colors reminded me of that.
Maybe tomorrow something equally ordinary will remind you.
A flower.
A song.
A smile.
A sunset.
Or perhaps this very moment.
The colors were never gone.
They were there all along.
Sometimes all we have to do is look again.
GK
Georgi Kisyov – Reflections & Books 
GK, this was such a beautiful reminder to slow down and truly see the world around us. I love the idea that the colors were never gone, we simply stopped noticing them. Your words encourage us to find beauty in the ordinary moments we often overlook. Thank you for sharing such a thoughtful reflection.
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Thank you so much. That was exactly the hope behind this piece—that maybe we could all slow down for a moment and remember that life hasn’t lost its colors; sometimes we’ve simply become too busy to notice them. I’m so grateful the message resonated with you. Wishing you a beautiful day filled with little moments of color.
GK
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I enjoyed where this went because it reminded me of another “color” we often overlook—the faithfulness of God. His mercies aren’t just new every morning because they’re newly created; they’re newly noticed. They’ve been there all along. I wonder how many ordinary days are actually filled with extraordinary grace that we simply walk past because familiarity has dimmed our vision. Maybe one of the greatest prayers we can pray isn’t, “Lord, change my circumstances,” but, “Lord, open my eyes.” Sometimes the miracle isn’t that God has done something new. It’s that He helps us see what He has been doing all along.
The morning wore its robe of gold,
The robin sang the selfsame tune.
The flowers kept their quiet watch
Beneath the sun and silver moon.
The world had not forgotten joy,
Nor heaven ceased its gentle art.
The colors waited patiently…
Until they reached a listening heart.
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Thank you so much for this beautiful reflection. I really appreciate how you connected the idea of noticing the colors in life with seeing what has always been there. Your thought about asking for open eyes instead of changed circumstances is a powerful one, and your poem is simply beautiful. Thank you for adding another meaningful layer to the conversation.
GK
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A beautiful essay again! I took up photography 30+ years ago – first as a side-job and later as my profession. Now, it is a hobby. I no longer pursue technical perfection – I search for meaningful images, regardless of the technical status of it. Photography has taught me to slow down, breathe slowly, look carefully around my situation, find a point of interest and then capture it. I’ve recently become interested in macro photography. That, in turn, forces one to slow down even more – to wait, to see. Colours are there – we just need to slow down long enough to see them.
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Thank you so much! I really love your perspective. I think photography gives us one of life’s greatest gifts—it teaches us to slow down and truly see. I especially enjoyed what you said about no longer chasing technical perfection but searching for meaningful images. That’s where the real beauty lives. Wishing you many wonderful discoveries through your macro lens!
GK
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You have this crazy knack GK of unzipping my mind and peering inside. This got to me. Really got to me.
Thank you!
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Thank you so much. That truly means a lot to me. If my words helped open a small window for reflection or helped you see something already inside you, then this post has done exactly what I hoped it would. I’m grateful it resonated with you, my friend.
GK
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This is absolutely wonderful! I started drawing/coloring again at long last and it is truly a joy to me to see the colors flowing onto the paper, as if they are- well, they ARE- beings in their own right and know where they want to go and what they are saying. There is beauty to behold if we can rise above our current situation/problem/misery/whateveritis and just look through our eyes. Thank you for this!
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Thank you so much! I love that you’ve started drawing and coloring again. There is something magical about watching colors come alive on the page, almost as if they have their own story to tell. I also love what you said about rising above our current situation and simply looking with open eyes. Wishing you many joyful, colorful moments in your creative journey.
GK
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Temporary filter. That brings tears of joy and optimism at one and the same time. Ty for this. Truly.
On one level it is what i deal with daily, the ability to see or not, through cellophane, my sight comes and goes as does depth of perception.
on another, it is a powerful welcomed reminder that ” and this too shall pass” when life’s complexities slam into us with a ferocity we didn’t expect. On those moments color is truly dimmed. Ive experienced many of late.
This is indeed a reminder to look for the color that surrounds us. All we have to do is stop for a moment redirect our sight, see. Ty from the bottom of me pump.
I realize i made this personal, but truly, words of wisdom and wealth when honored do that dont they? That’s what authenticity is. Accepting not rejecting. Ty
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Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing something so personal. Your words remind me that we all experience those temporary filters in different ways, and yet they never tell the whole story. I’m grateful this reflection brought you a little hope and reminded you that the colors are still there, even on the hardest days. Wishing you brighter moments ahead, my friend.
GK
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“Sometimes we simply need a gentle reminder to remove the filter we’ve allowed routine to place over our eyes.”
That says it well! A good reminder and I hope you enjoy the book!
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Thank you so much, Rosie! I’m really glad that line resonated with you. Sometimes a small shift in perspective is all we need to see the colors again. And thank you—I can’t wait to start reading the book!
GK
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“The difference is attention.” Well said.
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Thank you so much! I’m glad that line stood out to you. Sometimes the beauty around us doesn’t change—only where we choose to place our attention.
GK
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I love colours – flowers , home decorating, photography, clothes…
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Colors have such a wonderful way of bringing joy into every part of our lives, whether it’s through nature, our homes, photography, or even the clothes we choose. Thank you for sharing.
GK
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I have always been drawn to colors. When I am out and about there are a lot of murals on buildings here in Panama and the colors they use are bright and vibrant. Love the post!
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Thank you so much! I can only imagine how beautiful those colorful murals in Panama must be. They sound like wonderful reminders that art can brighten not only buildings but also our everyday lives. I’m so glad you enjoyed the post.
GK
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