WHAT color makes you happy? What color do you know makes your skin glow, lifts your spirits even the slightest bit?

A buttery lemon yellow does that for me. I only have one shirt in this color. I save it for those dark, rainy days when I need a picker-upper, or during those days I’m feeling a little down. If I’m feeling grey on the inside, I might as well look happy on the outside. And the good thing is, the cheeriness of the yellow shirt rubs off on me and I feel better later in the day.

When was the last time you wore your happy color?

“ALLOW yourself to feel,” my retreat master said. We were talking about buried emotions and listening to our heart’s whispers. “Name that emotion. Face it. Then move on,” she said.

Facing one’s emotions, especially when in deep anger or sadness, is a tough task. There have been many times that I turned to distractions, hoping that the negative feelings would fade away. Turned on the TV and got immersed in a series. Plugged in a video game. Blogged. Wrote. Ate. Slept. No matter how far I ran away from the feelings though, they always came back to haunt me.

I hate sadness. I hate feeling helpless, disconnected, hopeless. Who loves that anyway? But it’s only when I start acknowledging that I feel this way or that way that I can move on.

And so I share with you, as my retreat master shared with me, “Allow yourself to feel.”

Cry. Stomp your feet. Scream. Laugh. Express your emotions in a manageable way. Name the emotion. I’m feeling sad. I’m feeling angry. I’m feeling lonely. I’m feeling helpless. I’m indifferent.

When you acknowledge the feeling, moving on is easier. At least there are no tears swept under a rug, anger hidden behind curtains.

And then you’ll start to feel better. And then you’ll feel lighter. And hope isn’t as far off as you think.

This post contains movie spoilers.

Don’t be afraid to reach out. Wall-E had no idea what Eve was, but he knew in his gut (if he had one) that he wanted to be her friend. She intrigued him. Despite her efforts to ward him off, he persisted in reaching out to her, and eventually built a good friendship with her.

It’s so easy to shut off yourself from people, from the world. It doesn’t take much effort to go “Hey, you don’t want me? Fine.” While there’s a threshold to how far we can take our persistence, we wouldn’t really know when and where that is unless we keep reaching out. Are you still afraid to do so? Maybe someone’s waiting for you to make the first move.

Share. I loved the scene where Wall-E was showing off his collections to Eve. Whether it was as simple as a spork or as grand as a musical on film, he enjoyed sharing them with Eve. She didn’t know what they were, but just having someone to appreciate these collections with made Wall-E happy.

Alone time is good. Doesn’t it feel refreshing to just hole up in a room in your pajamas and read a book? Or just put on those headphones, play a game on the XBox and pretend the rest of the world didn’t exist? Solitude is lovely, but having someone to share those interests with is even better. I love listening to my husband talk about his boxing techniques, even though I don’t know much about the game’s technicalities. He enjoys listening to me rave about my Sims, even though he doesn’t play the video game.

Reading is a wonderful solitary activity. But isn’t it wonderful when you meet people you can talk about the book with? Share your interests, share your ideas! In the course of sharing, you may even discover a new interest and meet like-minded individuals too.

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