Nature concludes each day with a fiery mural, never again to be exactly duplicated and missed if we look away for a moment too long. “What color is in a picture, enthusiasm is in life,” said Vincent van Gogh, and to live with passion is to live life in full color. 

As children, it was in our nature to live out loud. We sang off-key, belly-laughed and showed off our blueberry-stained tongues. Somewhere between grade school and adolescence, we learned to swim with the social current, content to blend in for comfort. 

As adults, too often we are barely aware of our lives stuck in grayscale, but if we look deep inside, we long to be the brave red rose in a black-and-white world. Sometimes it takes something drastic, like being faced with a terminal illness, to throw off the shackles of, “What would they think?” and follow our own brand of bliss. Hopefully, most of us can make that decision without such a drastic wake-up call.

In many parts of the world, nature saves her best for last and pulls out all the stops. She dresses the trees in unapologetic glory, inviting us to live more boldly before it’s too late, and to express the passions we’ve held in for dear life. If we are wise, we will follow our bliss, whether it’s painting that wall in a color that might compromise resale value or dusting off the violin we set aside after high school. Autumn gives us much-needed permission to let our hair down, let our locks go silver or feisty red, let our souls blow in the wind and come in for dinner a little late and disheveled.  

What parts of ourselves do we hold inside for fear of standing out a little too much? What would we wear if we defied fickle trends? How would we love if we realized that there is nothing more important than embodying love?

Here’s to living in full color, come what may.

Marlaina Donato is an author, composer and painter.