Writing Rainbows

I have always loved rainbows. When I was a teenager I had a rainbow poster, and when I went to college I sought out a huge rainbow that covered an entire wall of my room. Rainbows may seem, to some, an odd thing to love, but for me they’re unendingly cheerful: somehow full of life and joy and, well, colour. The dictionary states that a rainbow is ‘an arch of colours formed in the sky in certain circumstances, caused by the refraction and dispersion of the sun’s light by rain’ or it can also be any display of the colours of the spectrum produced by dispersion of light. A simple and beautiful thing that I’m forever trying to capture on camera .It would seem I’m not alone – a quick search on ‘Shutterstock’ brings back 178,561 results!

So, what is the fascination with this common phenomenon? Apparently we’ve been captivated with rainbows forever, and there are songs, poems and art to prove the fact. In Norse mythology the rainbow is the road between the worlds of God and men. Indians believed it was a bridge between life and death and the Irish…well we all know about that elusive pot of gold – and it wasn’t made up for the film!

Of course there’s the biblical reference to the rainbow being a covenant between God and humanity too, a promise that there will never again be a flood that destroys the whole earth (although some of us may have been doubting that this winter!)

Whatever the roots, there are a number of aspects of the rainbow that attract me – that nod at hope, for sure. Even as an adult, I still exciting to to look up and see a rainbow in the sky; the Irish myth has appeal too, hinting at the unattainable- you never can find the end of the rainbow of course. Finally, there’s just the sheer wonder and beauty of seeing that refraction of light; fleeting, but always magnificent.

I love colour, and am know for the bright colour choices of my clothes and paintings –  often rainbow shades – borrowing something of the hope, joy and colour from the wonder of the universe. I seem to have seen more of my fair share of rainbows since I moved to the Highlands. I’ve not found a pot of gold yet, nor have I managed to take the perfect rainbow photograph, but it still gives me a thrill to look up and see a rainbow arching across the sky in all its splendour.  There’s much to gain inspiration from as creatives. You could do worse than looking up every so often  – you might get a nice rainbow surprise.