Living Life In Color

Excuse the cheesy title, but I have been waiting to use that one for a while now. So on Sunday, March 29, I attended the festival of colors, otherwise known as Holi, at the Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork. This, if you do not know, is a celebration of good over evil, love, and equality among all. It can be considered a religious ceremony, but I think everyone should go at least once in their life. It begins with a bonfire the night before, which I did not attend, but the following event the next day is when the clouds of color begin to form. People come and buy a colored powder of the same consistency and taste as flour to throw at each other. I can tell you this from personal experience. Speaking of experience, I wanted to share mine with you, along with a couple tips.

My title for this post does not get more literal than this. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

As I mentioned before, this is essentially a festival of love and happiness. The moment you walk through the entry gates, you can feel people sharing that with you. I mean that literally, the moment you walk in, there is welcoming committee of people with the colorful dust ready to ruin that perfectly white shirt. The cleaner you are, the more of a target you become. This, despite what it seems like, is not a bad thing. The more you embrace it, the more fun you will have. The best way I can explain it is that you start as a blank canvas that everyone contributes to. Not to mention the large number of works of art you will contribute to. Nobody likes an uncompleted work of art with white spaces, so don't expect to come out clean (my dad bet ten dollars to anyone that could). Never have I been so happy to have my face continually hit with rainbow dust.

Taking a selfie with my mom after getting powder in face at least five times.

Another one of my favorite parts is the atmosphere of the place. No I don't mean the cloud of dust continually drifting above. I loved how genuinely happy everyone seemed to be. The good mood was contagious, and I was still feeling blissful for the entirety of the next day. It felt like everyone knew they were sharing something special and unique, and just being there made you part of some exclusive club.

So artsy. I couldn't help myself.

The festival of colors is fun, but there are some things you need to do to make it that way. Th most obvious is wearing clothes that you don't care about (preferably white). While the rest of my family and I were able to brush most of the dust off, some was still left in my shirt. You should also where easily washable shoes like flip flops, or Crocs for the brave. When going to the festival, you may not be planning on getting hit in the face, but other people might have different plans. This means you should bring sunglasses for eye protection. Bandannas to cover your mouth are also an option, but I was fine without one. Also a must, a bag for your phone. You need to protect your phone while taking those artsy selfies.

I hope you decide to attend this awesome event in the future! Something that is also awesome is you people! That's right, you! Thank you for reading my blog! Challenge for the break, let go of your reservations, and have fun with something you wouldn't normally do (stay safe though, I need your page views).