Orange Edition Editorial

What does orange have to do with bunnies? Click here for the audio version of this article.

Amy Bell and I am the founder and creative director of United Colours of Design Media

Yowsa! The last month has been a HUGE lesson in what it means to work with orange sacral energy. As all of you were enjoying the Coral Edition, we here at United Colours of Design have been preparing and producing the Orange Edition. And it has been a doozy! When you read through the magazine you’re going to find out all you ever wanted to know about orange. Every writer is taking a look at their area of expertise through the lens of orange so I am going to allow them to give you all the juicy details about orange. What I’d like to do is show you how orange showed up for me in just the last four weeks! Honestly, I can’t believe the changes that have occurred in such a short period of time. So here it goes…

On each cover I list the three most positive aspects of each colour. Orange is all about creativity, manifestation and sexuality. Pretty amazing aspects for sure! So, I was geared up to experience a wicked-awesome quarter full of creative inspiration, thinking my dreams into being and fabulous sex! Like who wouldn’t be excited for all that, am I right?!

Plot twist! What transpired was a completely different orange story. What I and a few of the writers actually needed were the properties of orange that lead to deep spiritual healing in the areas of overwhelm, shock and creative blocks. Once we faced the dark side of orange, the positive aspects were able to shine through. Did they show up the way we originally thought when we started this orange journey, nope. Were they equally beautiful and insightful, yup!

Inside this edition you will find articles giving you tips on how to manifest like a rock star AND how to remove the blocks to creativity. Because the fact of the matter is, the free flow of creativity, no matter how it manifests for you, is dependent on getting that orange sacral energy spinning brightly.

Here’s my analogy: You know those spinney wheels in the playground? The ones where you grab the bar and run like mad to get it going and then you hop on? So fun right? But sometimes there’s a gross, muddy mote that settles in the groove around the wheel and no one wants to be the runner. We used to settle that messy job with rock, paper, scissors to see who had to trudge through the muck to get the wheel going while the others sat and enjoyed the ride.

Needless to say, this issue we have some who won rock, paper, scissors and some that lost. Those that won found the writing process for orange fun and easy and joyful, where those that should have picked rock, wound up getting dirty shoes and soaked socks before seeing the great side of orange. I should have picked rock!

My orange lessons started around the end of November when two of my writers (who also should have picked rock!) texted (on the same day!) to tell me they were very sorry but just too overwhelmed to submit an article for this edition. They were creatively out juice even though we all thought orange would be an easy colour for each of them to write about. Being the helpful person that I am, I attempted to save the day by offering fabulous topic ideas that would inspire them to write their best article yet.

Truth bomb... Being ‘helpful’ by trying to save the day was me activating my ‘need to please’ orange pattern. My orange shadow needed the praise and accolades that I would get for being the muse that ignited their creative flow. The more I tried to ‘help’ by pushing my orange agenda, the more overwhelmed they felt. After recognizing that my orange shadow was beginning to take over, I sent them each a note letting them off the hook. I reminded them that this was supposed to be a fun experience and if they were feeling overwhelmed it was fine with me if they needed to sit this ride out.

Truth bomb... Although I was disappointed that two of my favorite writers weren’t going to be in this orange edition, I knew I had to stop fighting it into being and just allow. The truth is, forcing creativity only produces an inauthentic message and that is definitely not what we’re after here. Once I stopped trying to rule the roost the universe was able to take over!

Both writers are very familiar with colour and the shadows that can be activated when working with them. Luckily for all of us, both of these kick-ass lightworkers took this resistance as a sign to do some work around orange to see what was coming up. After inner reflection, meditation and a whole lot of swearing and tears both handed in their columns and both stories are brave and brilliant examples of the healing properties of orange. (See Colours of Energy, page 92 and Colours of Intimacy column, page 104).

Two weeks later another lesson in orange…

A year and a half ago we (and by we I mean my man) rescued a little Yorkie named Ammie (hello…how could I say no?!) She was a blind, deaf old girl who was surprisingly active and not at all bothered by having to bonk her way around her new home. Although she was 14 and in pretty bad shape when we got her it was only just 2 weeks ago that her health led us to making that dreaded call to the vet. I had no idea that this quirky little fur ball would have such a big impact in such a short period of time. I also found it interesting that she transitioned while working on the orange edition.

I reached out to my colour mentor, Moira Bush and she reminded me that animals have an orange aura, so this is why we use orange bottles when working with animals. The fact that Ammie decided it was her time during our orange edition (and not any of the other colours we’ve worked on so far) means (to me) that she was content to go. She went full circle, born in orange and leaving in orange. From a numerology perspective the date we leave this planet is as significant as the date we arrive. Ammie left us on 13/12/2021, this is a 3 day and in Colour Mirrors 3 is represented by the colour coral… our last edition’s colour. So interesting how the universe works.

Even though it was her time, even though she had a great life and even though we provided her with a great ‘last hurrah’, the shock and trauma (orange) of making the decision to end her life has not been easy to shake. But orange has a sneaky way of healing wounds and supporting us in moving forward.

One week later another orange lesson…

My step-son has been bugging us for years to get a hamster. Do you know how difficult it is to tell those big brown eyes that there is no way on this earth we’re getting a hamster? Ha! It’s not difficult at all actually lol! There was NO way I was getting a hamster (or any other animal for that matter) and I had no problem telling him so.

December 23rd he and I were in the pet store getting some kitty litter for our BBK (Big Beautiful Kitty) Trixie. (Trixie is another geriatric pet that came with my man and she too is spending her last days at Amy and Brian’s Retirement Home for Wayward Animals). We stopped by the hamster cages and honestly, I was an inch away from breaking when (thank God) the fire alarm went off in the store. I gave my head a shake and left with the other grateful parents who were getting away unscathed. That night I couldn’t sleep. I was consumed with searching for hamster cages on Marketplace desperate to make this kid’s Christmas one for the books. But something was holding me back… and then I saw it. A photo of THE cutest bunny I have ever seen.

I woke up Christmas Eve on a mission. The boys had gone to their mother’s for the day and after they left I looked at Brian and asked him what he thought about getting a bunny. Anyone who knows him, knows he has a weakness for animals, and I knew this wasn’t a hard sell. I was the hard sell so with that out of the way he was increasingly excited about the idea.

Remember the Cabbage Patch and Tickle Me Elmo frenzies from years ago? Well, they had nothing on Amy and Brian’s great rabbit adventure of 2021! By the time the boys got home from their mom’s we had not one but TWO (don’t ask!) of the cutest bunnies in our kitchen. We told the boys they were allowed to open on gift but it had to be the gift we chose and I will never forget their faces! Shock, joy, disbelief but mostly joy. I can’t believe how much life was sprinkled into the house just by inviting these two creatures in!

Truth bomb… I was the one who needed some joy! Yes, I love what I do, I love my life and all the people in it, but I had no idea what I was missing until these two hopped in. Orange is known as “the life of the party” colour and let me tell you, these two (Jet and Olly, or at least we think they are Jet and Olly, they could be Jet and Holly… sex to be determined hopefully before we have 20 of them running around!) are certainly the life of our party.

So what are my lessons from orange?

• Stop being a control freak and allow the universe to flow as it should

• Give others the freedom to be creative without restraint

• Tears and F-Bombs go hand-in-hand with orange lessons

• Don’t forget to breath

• If you can’t personally be the life of the party, invite someone (or bunnies) who are and enjoy the ride

• Don’t worry, be hoppy! (Yup, I’m one of those people now!)