“You know, I have studied this stuff for years; you can give me more or make the homework a little harder.”
“But that’s the point, Charmaine. You have studied a lot, and it’s impressive. However, at this point in your life, you are overstimulated with information. The simple process of activating the energy and asking it for information may be just what you need to reboot your system.”
I suggest to Charmaine that throughout the week, every time she sees the color white, she should stop and ask herself, what do I have to offer the planet?
The following week when we connect, Charmaine has had a profound discovery.
“Dougall, this was so interesting. I did the meditation every day for about two minutes and then would go on with my schedule. I had no idea how much white I was surrounded by! I would round the corner of my street and see my neighbors’ yard full of white roses. I would take a deep breath in my car and ask myself the question you presented. What do I have to offer the world? At first, I would just feel peaceful and like I had all the time in the world to get things done; then, toward the end of the week, I had a sort of intense experience. My son had a book report due and had been begging me to buy more printer paper. I was racing to the office supply store, feeling overwhelmed and a little frantic. I walked into the store and found the paper aisle. I looked up at all these packages and felt irritated there were so many options. Heavy thread, white, off-white—dozens of kinds of paper—and suddenly I realized I was standing alone in an aisle, surrounded by white printer paper. Even the word white was written everywhere. I took a deep breath, and the smell triggered something inside of me! It’s hard to explain, but I had a flashback. I was standing in the teachers’ lounge of the school where I used to teach. The smell of the paper, the feeling of it in my hands, used to make me so happy. I loved teaching. I had chills just thinking about it. Of course I have something to offer the world. Of course I have a reason to get back into the workforce. I am a teacher.”
Charmaine and I spent the next 30 minutes talking about this revelation. Now, let me explain something. Nothing magical or mystical happened in that store. Charmaine had been busy ending her marriage and taking such brilliant care of her family that she had forgotten about connecting with herself. However, the universe always knows what we need, and it provided ample reminders to her in the form of stressful life situations. This gave her spirit the opportunity to refocus and reflect upon the things that bring her true joy in life. In the end, Charmaine started part-time substitute teaching and then got a job at her kids’ school teaching first grade.
What Charmaine ultimately needed was permission to focus on herself. By carving out a small meditation process and reminding herself of her intention during the day, she found that the answer to her question presented itself. In that moment, she became her own guru.
I truly believe we have all the answers to any problem we face, deep within our own being. The concept of working with color is about reconnecting to your innate brilliance and wisdom.
ACTIVATING WHITE NOTES
AM I AWARE OF MY ENERGY?
(Please note: Although every other color comes with a series of exercises, white is the only color in this book that does not. The reason I omitted exercises in this chapter is so you can focus on familiarizing yourself with the basic activation process. Once you become used to working with color in this way, we will proceed to more involved exercises. Please refer back to the activation process in Chapter 1 for further guidance. The steps in Chapter 1 will serve as your template for every color.)
With white, our main focus is on unifying our thought, clearing our emotional field, and optimizing our energy. When we activate the color white, we clear our consciousness and remind ourselves that at our core we are spiritual beings. It is so easy in life to get lost in our multitasking. Our job, our family obligations, our role with our friends, our bills, our expectations, and our health can take up all of our emotional space. Everything in our life is constantly swirling around in our soul and our aura. So before we enter into any spiritual state of mind, we need to organize and clear our energy.
From personal and professional experience, I can say you really cannot go wrong with white in any situation.
SPIRITUAL ACTIVATION NOTES
It’s important to note that even though I talk about white being used for energetic cleansing, I don’t think anyone has “dirty” or “unclean” energy. I sometimes hear clients tell me their aura is clogged, distorted, or torn. While I understand that difficult life experiences can sometimes make us feel damaged, I see it from a different perspective.
Think of your soul as the desktop of your computer. If you are anything like me, you leave all sorts of files on the desktop so they are easy to find. I have photos of loved ones I want to post on social media and share with others. I have documents for books, blogs, and even just journal entries I want to reread. Slowly, my desktop starts to get a little crowded. The more files that are “open and active,” the slower my computer starts to work. Now, I am the farthest thing from computer savvy—when my computer gets slow, I call my husband, David, to the rescue.
David looks at my computer and immediately notices my desktop is crowded with files. “How can you focus on anything with all this clutter?”
Slowly and with intention, he moves every file into its proper folder and deletes what is no longer needed. Several more strikes of the keypad and suddenly my desktop is clean. Almost immediately, the computer speeds up, as if it can really focus instead of dealing with all that clutter.
This is a perfect representation of spiritually activating white energy in our lives. Just like a computer, we are all brilliant creations performing countless functions and holding on to a variety of information. But instead of storing documents and files, we are emotionally imprinted with information about our past and present. We carry happy moments with loved ones and life events we are proud of, but we also carry painful or stressful memories of things that occurred along our own personal journey.
At any given moment, a number of these life elements can be active or just working in the background of our consciousness. When we have too many of these energy programs working, it slows us down. We can become disconnected, overwhelmed, or foggy. Perhaps you have trouble remembering things, or maybe you have been feeling that there isn’t enough time in the day. Guess what? It’s time to clear your spiritual desktop.
This is where white comes in. Spiritually activating white is like an energetic shower that refocuses your energy to a more neutral space. As you get used to this process, it will help you quickly return to the most honest, balanced version of yourself before your energy was swayed by various people or situations. White unifies your intention so that you can file away all the distracting elements of your life and refocus on your core. Spiritually activating white should feel like a freeing, cleansing bath of light energy.
UNIVERSAL ACTIVATION NOTES
(AKA “I SPY” WITH MY INTUITIVE EYE)
White has a wonderful, cleansing energy and is perfect for us to begin our journey together. Think of white as a fresh start to this new color process. You are connecting to a part of your soul that has always been there, but now you magnify its intensity.
WHITE AFFIRMATION
I AM CLEANSED BY THE SPIRITUALITY AND CLARITY OF WHITE.
PHYSICAL ACTIVATION NOTES
Since white is used for overall energetic clearing, I like to use color props that I can incorporate into my bathing ritual. I do love a nice cleansing shower, so why not combine that with some white color props? For this reason, most of my bath accessories are white. Keep in mind you can have more than one prop. I don’t want you to feel you have to commit to just one color prop. In fact, having more than one will only provide you with more opportunities to be reminded of the energy that you are invoking.
Some white color props you could incorporate into your day include:
White bath towels. This is my absolute favorite. As I dry
myself, I like to imagine the towel absorbing any last remnants of energy that does not serve me.
A white terrycloth robe. After I am cleansed, I can picture myself being wrapped in sparkling white energy as I slip on the robe.
White pillar candles. Not only do these represent clarifying white energy, but lighting candles also adds an element of ritual that I really enjoy.
THE SHADOW SIDE OF WHITE
As you begin your journey and activate the high frequency of white, you may be reminded of how cluttered your life has been. An imbalance of white often occurs if you have been neglecting your own needs or not engaging in any kind of spiritual practice. You may have been stuck in negativity or limiting thoughts due to life circumstances. If so, this will be highlighted while working with white.
The shadow side of white may manifest as extra attachment to clutter, or it may highlight how overwhelmed you are feeling in this moment. Allow the shadow side of white to remind you of your self-care routine, and how much or how little you are engaged in it. Another way to be proactive toward balancing white energy would be to take some time and do something just for yourself. It could be getting a massage or going to a park for a quiet afternoon.
White is one of the easier colors to explore—even the shadow side. Remember that we are just letting the light in, so shine on!
CHAPTER 3
GOLD
QUALITIES: Goal setting and higher thought
SHADOW SIDE: Selfishness; being socially unapproachable
The color of independence and intelligence, gold is a booster shot of tenacity and motivation. Gold light is used for prioritizing and goal setting. It helps transform all negative thought patterns and replace them with positive, productive thinking. Gold light is seen around entrepreneurs, inventors, self-starters, and people who enjoy being alone.
Gold light invokes self-confidence, independence, and motivation. It is an appropriate color for self-employed people and those who would simply like to assert more independence.
There are many references to gold’s regal energy spanning history, religion, and art. In Hinduism, gold is symbolic of knowledge, learning, meditation, and mental development. It is frequently associated with reliability and wisdom, such as with the terms gold standard or the golden years of our lives. In the Bible, the three wise men gifted Jesus with gold upon his birth, representing his kingship. In ancient Egypt, Ra was the sun god often referred to as the leader of all the gods. Many civilizations throughout history used gold as currency, starting with Asia Minor thousands of years ago. I often see the color gold around clients who are the providers for their families.
Recently, I was invited to speak at an inspirational event co-created by my dear friend Ramey Warren and her colleague Nicole Richie. It was a perfect opportunity to spread positive energy to a mainstream audience, with keynote speakers such as Marianne Williamson. The Oprah Winfrey Network loved the idea and wanted to film the event as a media partner. David and I got so excited when we heard about this empowering vision. He offered to create a website for them, and he set an intention to help in any way possible.
David has been my manager for about eight years now. We are not only a couple but also dynamic and supportive colleagues. Although he is a pivotal part of my business, David normally prefers blending into the background. Because of this, I often get most of the credit, while he is perceived as my assistant. As we evolved together, David wanted to step more into his own personal power and had been activating gold to help himself.
One day, he had a meeting to help plan the event, and I cleared the breakfast plates so he could get ready. We have an unspoken understanding in our house that whenever one of us has a big work day, the other takes care of housework by making breakfast, cleaning up, and the like.
“I’m feeling really nervous, Doogy,” David says over breakfast.
“Really? You’re going to be great! There is nothing to worry about.”
“I just want to do a good job. I kept waking up last night, trying to think of the right color to activate before this meeting. My mind was jumping around. Purple for leadership? Maybe red would be best to be heart-centered? Or orange could be helpful for balance? What do you think is the best color for me to use today?”
“Gold for sure. It will help you feel independent and confident in your thought. This meeting is about prioritizing goals for the event. If you activate gold this morning, you will organize your thoughts and walk in with the confident energy that says ‘I am capable of doing this!’”
“Gold it is,” he says.
“I don’t own any gold clothing!” he announces a few minutes later from the closet.
“I should hope not. We don’t want you showing up looking like an Oscar statue. And you don’t have to literally wear the color to invoke the energy. Now that you’ve activated it, just visualize it and allow it to give you a boost of confidence.”
David meditated with gold that morning and wore his grandfather’s antique gold watch as a color prop. He relayed he loved touching his watch anytime he wanted a boost of powerful gold energy all morning. The conference was a huge success, and I was so proud to watch David take on a powerful role and proudly stand in his gold light.
This is just one example of how color can play a role in your life. Just like David was nervous before his big meeting, you may be presented with a business opportunity that triggers insecurity. In this case, activate gold, because it will awaken the business side of you. The more you invoke that energy of independence, the more it will embed itself in your being right when you need it.
Gold is traditionally considered a masculine energy in the healing arts, while silver is perceived as a feminine energy. However, in my opinion, these are just gender roles and not truly representative of how these energies work inside of us as people. I believe we are all naturally blessed with a masculine and a feminine side. We all have the ability to access either energy whenever we want, although this may feel like a struggle depending on the culture that we live in.
For better or worse, society tends to view men as being more independent, confident in their opinions, and easily able step into their masculine role. Women, on the other hand, are expected to be more sensitive, compassionate, and generally heart-centered. I want you to know this is an illusion. You have unlimited access to the best aspects of both masculine and feminine energy.
This concept has always been easy for me to embrace because, as a gay man, there are fewer gender roles to overcome. Anyone who is different from the pack knows that difference comes with the potential for judgment from others. But it is also a blessing, because it teaches you to realize other people’s opinions don’t really matter. As a result, I can easily explore my silver feminine side, such as my emotional sensitivity, my creativity, or any stereotypically feminine trait. But I also enjoy utilizing assertive gold energy, embodying “masculine” business traits if I need to.
You have the power to do the same whenever you like. Pull the energy that benefits you most in any given moment and forget about gender roles. When our masculine and feminine sides are in balance, the other elements of our lives come into balance as well. Together, we will explore both the masculine and the feminine aspects of our soul, giving us the tools to balance our energy in a powerful way.
Gold represents our “masculine” side, which refers to the idea of being self-employed, self-motivated, and more “in your head” than “in your heart.” When I see gold energy around someone, they are usually deeply rooted in thought. Their brain serves them in many positive ways.
Gold helps us to be self-sufficient, to set our intention, and, most importantly, to be confident in our ideas. Even if you do not naturally feel connected to your “business” side, there is no reason to avoid gold energy. In fact, that is all the more reason to experiment with it! You may awaken a powerful part of your being that has been dormant and waiting to be activated.
ACTIVATING GOLD NOTES
AM I STANDING IN MY P
OWER?
Gold has always been a warm, soothing color for me, much like the sun. The independent energy it imparts makes me feel very inspired, but we all have different relationships with color, and you may feel differently.
You can activate gold whenever you need a dose of independence or goal-setting mojo. If you are hoping to land a job interview or manifest a more satisfying career, use gold to bust through any limiting beliefs about the flow of abundance to your life.
A note about gold: Many of my clients are interested in working as coaches, as healers, or somewhere else in the self-help community. If this sounds like you, wonderful! I applaud and support your desire to help others, just as I was personally drawn to the healing arts myself. However, many sensitive people mistakenly believe that spirituality and business are not compatible, as though it is somehow less authentic to deserve payment for your work. This limiting belief is unfortunate, because it can keep you from turning your passion and talent into a viable profession. If any part of you does not feel deserving of payment for your healing work, it is a classic sign you would benefit from working with gold energy. Please let me assure you, life will become more fulfilling and effective when you are properly expressing both your spiritual power and your business identity.
On the flip side, as a practitioner, I can completely relate to the desire to help people who may not be able to afford my services. For this reason, I always work with a limited number of clients for free. I also find this helps me release any blocks to achieving abundance. I recommend working with a few clients per month on a complimentary basis, as you activate gold to help manifest the business you want.
SPIRITUAL ACTIVATION NOTES
Visualizing gold in meditation highlights our own power of thought and the way we carry ourselves. When activating gold, I like to see this energy as a golden sun above my head, leading my thoughts and desires into reality. If I am in a business meeting, I invoke gold to draw its energy to the surface of my consciousness. I use gold when I want to feel confident, capable, and like a master of my destiny.
Your Life in Color Page 4
