Let’s rewind for a moment. At the end of the summer, I went on vacation to Lake George with one of my friends. We spent four days pretty much doing what we pleased – exploring the town, tanning on the beach and swimming in the pool. Okay, scratch that - We only went to the beach one day and ended up leaving because the water was full of stuff I’d rather not step on.
That moment, though, gave me the idea for what you are reading. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and two teenage girls had nothing else to do: We tanned (not really), we laid out our blankets and we decided to sit there and talk because nothing else entertained us. It was then that I noticed something – the towels we had were really, really white.
Being the great planners that we were, we forgot to bring our own beach towels from home and ended up borrowing the hotel towels for the day. The sand-dirt that surrounded Lake George was a distinct brown-tan color (like most sand/dirt is). But on that day, that particular sand-dirt made the towels appear very luminescent. Looking at them was equivalent to staring at a blanket of snow on a sunny day.
White. it’s not even a color, if you were wondering.
Actually, there is debate about whether or not white is a color. White reflects all the color waves. My physics class touched on this last year, but I’m not very good at explaining the color spectrum. To understand this fully, I suggest that you do some research.
Yes, I know, you probably think I’m gonna go all scientific on you. No. What I’m really trying to say is that although white may or may not be a color, it definitely has a significant connotation.
White. What does it signify? You already know what it signifies; scream it out if you feel like it.
Innocence. Purity. Holiness. The color white is everywhere.
And have you noticed that every hotel towel is white? I’ve been going to hotels all seventeen years of my life and only this summer did I realize that all of the towels are white.
Why can’t they be cerulean? Or sea foam green? Or sunset orange? Honestly, why? If I owned a hotel I think multi-colored towels would be a lot more fun.
Sheets are white. Soap is white. Bath tubs and showers are white. Paper is white. The bristles on your tooth brush are white. Without even noticing, the items you use everyday are pure. Mentally, you acknowledge that these things are clean. Hotels want their clients to think the services they provide are spotless, therefore their towels are white.
White. White. White.
We have been brainwashed to believe that the cleaner something is, the better it is. Most would agree that this is true (I mean come on, I love showers as much as the next person), but now our minds are not as open to viewing the other side. For example, if that towel has a little brown spot on it, most people automatically want to use a different one because that towel is not ‘clean.’ And for all you know, that towel has been washed over and over again very thoroughly and that little chocolate stain just doesn’t want to come off.
White is pure. Once another color interferes, we want to find something else. We just toss it to the side like it’s nothing, when it is clearly something. We are judging without trying to judge. And this, my friends, will always be a fault of humankind.
Isn’t it ironic that the thing we consider pure actually taints our minds?
Yours Truly,Alison “Lost in Believing”
