Enterprising Women Fall 2021 Edition

PERSONAL GROWTH by Rachel Nielsen T here is a reason there are eight colors in the beginner box of crayons. When you are learning to color, eight is enough of a variety to make pictures distinct without overwhelming the artist with choices. And then all of a sudden, we understand there are more colors out there. There are more options to paint the portrait bigger, bolder and more precisely than the limiting eight colors allow. It is in the big box of crayons that we begin to paint reality as we see it. Using all the colors is what contours the peaks and shadows of our perspective. And by understanding the tiniest of differences in each hue where we begin to comprehend beauty in complexity. So, I graduated to the big kid box of crayons. Two hundred crayons is like an entire paint store. And I plan to run my business and live my life coloring with every one of these hues. I am not saying I see rainbows of colors in sunrises and sunsets every day. I am saying that in darkness there is equally as much glorious detail as there is in brilliant light. I am saying I want to lean in and feel the shades of painful purples as much as to celebrate the glorious yellows and golden tones. Because it’s in the multi-color shading and contouring that I see brilliance and opportunity. It’s in the dark imagery that I understand where the light needs to shine. It’s in feeling the emotion behind the colors, that I understand the power of choice. And how a positive or negative perspective can shift an entire image from one scene to a completely different setting. I choose to believe that perspective is equally under our control the same as selecting a “Sunset Orange” #FE4C40 or an “Orange-Red” #FF5349. Neither choice is WRONG, yet an artist that makes the slightest adjustment in the balance of colors completely changes the picture. Perspective, like color, is a malleable state. Perspective, like color, needs the darkness and the light to truly make one another work. 2020 was the ultimate equalizer. The world shifted for everyone, no matter if you are an entrepreneur, an employee, a parent, a child, a retiree, a refugee or a tycoon. There is comfort knowing every soul has been impacted, and we are each painting our own picture from our individual perspective. We are simply choosing different colors from the crayon box. I remember that it’s my choice to color with the dark shadows for the days and situations that overwhelm. Some days I’ll choose to scribble and scratch in any color I want as if screaming into the wind. And then the very next day I may choose to see the light spaces that were left pure and untouched. And sitting there in the light is where my creative ideas and solutions sprout. It’s my perspective as an artist that guides the image I ultimately create, just as it is my perspective that shapes the leader, wife and mother I want to be. The reactions to my experiences shape who I am, and by living life using all the colors I believe I have a well- rounded, informed perspective. I have bad days, I own my fears and I am angry that I can’t control the environment, the economy, my own health or the actions of people who are just flat out mean. But I can control how I react to the darkness. I can control my Coloring with All the Crayons ang intaravichian / Shutterstock.com 88 enterprising Women