The Colour Pink

​Since the early days of girlhood, the colour pink has been thrust upon me the way it has for most born females in the last decade. I remember a time I rejected it; growing tired of the magentas, dusty roses, and the ever-horrible fuchsias. There was a time I protested by showing favour to the only colour I could think of more opposite, more horrible – lime green. I painted nearly every piece of furniture lime green, and every accent pillow and decoration had that headache-inducing colour. Lime green is what it is, there are no tones or shades. It is a loud colour that demands to be seen, but being a chronic migraine sufferer meant this protest was not sustainable.

One day after his shift doing security at the local casino, my dad brought home bingo daubers in the colour of hot pink. I don’t know what inside of me decided to adorn my lime green dresser with pink polka dots all over, but I was very impressed with my work when finished. Pink had come back into my life, but still playing second string to its obnoxious and objectivelyout-of-tune partner. Over time, the lime green started to disappear behind hues of blush, cerise, and yes, even fuchsia. The difference now was that it was my idea. I was choosing this colour, and reflecting on it now, it felt like it was choosing me right back.

I’m not sure when I declared pink my favourite colour, but I know I’ve loved it longer than I despised it. In adulthood, finding pink brings me joy; whether it’s a set of tools with pink rubber grips, a cozy sweater, or a tea towel I can hang against the starkness of my black and white kitchen. If it comes in pink, I’ll take it in pink. It kept me in touch with my girly side while living on the farm and raising my boys alongside my husbandand when I found out our third baby was a girl, my world got even rosier. Pink bottles, pink pacifiers, and all the pink clothes. So. Many. Pink. Clothes. I remind myself every time I dress her that she may grow to hate it for a time, or forever, but regardless she will and in some sense already is, on her own journey with the colour pink.