‘The world is gray” — what a dismal statement! “Gray” doesn’t conjure up happy thoughts — a gray day, a gray mood, a gray outlook, a gray period in history. The description “gray” doesn’t represent something cheerful. However, when my psychology instructor said, “The world is gray,” he shed a new light on that color and its significance in our thinking. His lecture made me look at people and situations differently. It’s amazing how someone’s insight can forever change your outlook.
He said that too many people see the world in black or white — something is all good or all bad, all right or all wrong, beautiful or ugly. “Gray” represents balance. The color gray is achieved by mixing black and white. There are two sides to almost everything and it is healthy to be able to look at both sides.
I was reminded of the instructor’s black and white lesson when we were in Thailand and the guide talked about relationships. He told us about the lessons we can learn by just looking at the Buddha statues and understanding the lessons in their design. The guide told us to notice that Buddha’s ears were extraordinarily long, and the lesson connected with that was the importance of listening, how important it is to hear and understand the other person’s side of a story.
Buddha’s eyes were also mentioned. Notice that they are downcast, and the lesson about that was to remind us to look to ourselves when relationships are not going well and remember that there are two sides to every story. The lessons pointed to a gray world … seeing both sides.
“Black Lives Matter” also came to mind. Blend black and white, see both sides of issues, blend both sides to make it a gray world, understand what it’s like to walk in another person’s shoes. I think of the words in the song the Up with People group sang as they toured America and countries abroad, “Inside everybody there’s some bad and there’s some good.” That’s gray thinking, and young people of all races participated in that group.
At a quilting seminar, the leader said, “When in doubt of what color thread to use, use gray. Gray is neutral and blends well with all colors.”
Some people have negative thoughts about getting the COVID vaccine. It’s true that some people get a painful reaction for a day or two after the vaccine, but the alternative in not getting it could be death or a lasting infirmity, along with the possibility of passing the virus on to someone else and being a part of having the pandemic continue. It’s important to examine both sides before making a decision.
There are times when we all look at things through a black or white lens. The instructor had good perception when he lectured on a healthy world being gray. We all need to step back when we see things in black or white and find the gray balance in our lives. We need a gray world. Gray is good.
Carole Gariepy of Phillipston has written seven books, all nonfiction. A recent one is a travel book, “Why Go There?” In her younger years, she was a teacher.