Color can be a distraction, sometimes 

 

Most of my life the color of my skin was a distraction for me. I was often teased and called names. I spent more than half of these 50 years thinking my color made me less than attractive. I never ever felt pretty.

I often wished I could remove the color to force folks to see me. I wanted to force folks to get to know me, to disregard the labels and see past society’s ruler. I wanted to be judged based on the content of my character not the shade of my skin.

 

Color can be distracting

Imagine if we were forced to purchase yarn blindfolded, the determining factor would be how it felt to the hand. The hue would be an afterthought, right? The shade wouldn’t distract us until after we had fallen in love with the content. Imagine a world that was forced to do the same. A world where we are required to know a person vs. a stereotype.

Yes I knit, yes I enjoy visiting yarn shops, no I don’t expect you to follow me around the store, unless you plan to assist me. Don’t be distracted by my outward appearance and form an opinion based on what you think.

When I took this picture and accidentally applied the B&W filter, I instantly thought yes look at me, not the brilliant shades, just me.

GG

 

30 thoughts on “Color can be a distraction, sometimes ”

  1. Tawana Hutchinson

    I completely know the feeling. As i have felt the same way growing up and still do some days. But thanks for sharing your truth.

  2. As I teacher I want nothing more than to share this with my entire school community… but sadly they are not all knitters! Such a simple, powerful way to express a complicated truth.

    1. Laura G, The message is so much more than knitting or the shade we get in some LYS’s. This is a great teaching moment in seeing people for who they are not what you perceive them to be based on outward appearances. The only way to get the message out there is to share it with others.

  3. I appreciate your truth. You are a blessing for me this morning. I have been following daily admiring your beautiful projects. I finally picked up my crochet and knitting needles again. Stress and depression it does relieve. Thank you so much.

  4. You are beautiful to me. And I love your love of yarn and your courage and your honesty. And your sense of humor! And, of course, your love of knitting.

  5. I know that feeling. My dad was stationed at Scofield Barracks in Hawaii and my sister and I went to school at Waialua and we were the minority as everyone was Polynesian Hawaiian or Japanese Hawaiian in gym class we had to shower and as I was showering the other girls gathered around to see if I was white all over. It was traumatic to say the least but it helped me in life to understand prejudice and not judge a person by their outward appearance.

  6. I see you Aunt* GG! And I know exactly where you are coming from. It gets tiring and old to have to constantly feel on guard when just going about your everyday life. However, we cannot let the foolishness of others stop our shine for too long.

    *(because you’re my knitting Auntie in my head:)!

  7. You are all shades of beautiful, from your insides to your outsides. I love your face, your spirit, your inspiration–all of it is YOU. And YOU–are a precious gift ❤️

  8. You have me here crying. When I look at you all I see is beauty. Not a color. I am not a color. You are not a color. You are a strong woman. Those who can only see color miss out on all the good we have within us. It’s an unfortunate loss for them. Thank you for this amazing post doll.

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