Spectrum Familium: A Collection

Abstract

This collection started with an idea: stories based around color. One story, two story, Red Story, Blue Story. In my mind, colors have great symbolic weight, flavor, cultural importance, and potential--so I thought it a great way to imbue my stories with more depth, more symbolism, and spice. I discovered a study published in 1969 called "Basic Color Terms: Their Universality and Evolution" that placed the development of color terms alongside the development of language in cultures around the world. Dark-light, cool-hot colors come first--like black and white. Then red. Then green or yellow. Then blue. So that's the order I used. Of course, this order didn't work for every language, and neither did the order of my stories, because color is a fluctuating concept. Its abstract--and red means something different to each of us. Passion, fire, love, anger. So, armed with a list of simple "symbolic interpretations" of my colors, I set about to create some stories, but I really created a family. A mother dealing with bi-polar disorder. Twins hoping to cope. A husband unsure of how to deal with her, his emotions, or pancakes. Spectrum Familium: A Collection stretches beyond the colors and the theory that were, for me, a jumping off point, and into a colorful study of family dynamics, mental illness, and perspective.