The Sound of Colors

 

“I have forgotten how blue the sky can be.  But in my mind I still watch the clouds change shape…”

- excerpt from Jimmy Liao’s The Sound of Colors

     A few days ago, James and I were talking about a Taiwanese drama entitled “Sound of Colors.”  He was feeling down because he was not able to watch the soap’s ending as planned, but through some serious searching, he was able to find a YouTube video of the final episode.  Like the tragic, bittersweet endings that the general Filipino, perhaps even Asian, population loves, the conclusion of the story revolved around how the heroine tries to move on with her recovered sense of sight, which she has regained through the wishes of her recently-deceased boyfriend.  It was deeply moving.  I admit that, being the crybaby that I am, I did shed a few tears while watching the captured scenes and hearing the poignant piano music in the background.

     Moments after watching, James asked me something that had me stumped for a minute:  “Raine, if you were seriously ill, would you tell me..?“  I honestly didn’t know what to say.  I mean, the scenario has happened time and again in movies, but it has never crossed my mind that it can happen to anyone, much less to me.  I guess it’s the usual detachment we humans take on whenever we are confronted with such sorrow.  But then I told James, “You know I never want you to worry about me… But I also want us to be completely honest with each other…“  Really, contemplating that possibility is overwhelming.  I hope and pray that nobody would have to be confronted with such a situation.

     And then later on, as I began reflecting on the soap’s title, I began asking myself, what really is the sound of colors?  What would life be without being surrounded by the wonderful prism of hues that we take for granted most of the time?  What would it be like to live in darkness, in the dreary hues of black and grey, in the monotony of a world without shade and tincture and iridescence?

    Blank.  Dull.  Life without truly living.

     I couldn’t even begin to think of what it would be like.  And then, through some twist of fate, I have stumbled upon a book written by Jimmy Liao, similarly called “The Sound of Colors.“  It tells the story of a young girl who is slowly getting blind as she sets off on an adventurous trip via the subway.  Although sometimes feeling lost and frightened, she finds out that her other senses and her imagination can fill in the gaps left by the loss of her sight.  She listens for the sound of colors, smells the shapes, and tastes the light and dark.

     And then I realized that the loss of something does not mean that life no longer has meaning.  For even though something may be taken away, we would still find so many things that is left for us, if only we look closely.  Sometimes, it takes times of adversity for people to really look within themselves and realize that they are stronger than they think they are.  It is through adversity that heroes are made.  It is through adversity that the human spirit triumphs.

     Okay, something tells me I got really serious on that preceeding paragraph.  I do get a bit intense whenever a particular subject moves me.  On a lighter note, this also got me to thinking what sounds colors would make.  White would be the soaring voices of a church choir…  Green would be the stirring of leaves in the breeze… Blue would be the serenity of hearing ocean waves rolling onto the shore…  Red would be the beating of a heart… Brown would be the crunching of fallen autumn leaves… There are a million possibilities really.  We are the only ones who limit of own perceptions.  Only by letting our imagination run free could we experience textures, tastes, fragrances, and sensations in such vivid variety.

     So what sounds do colors make for you..?