Our Holland Community Opera Fellowship (HCOF) is committed to being a creative and artistic resource to our community. Usually this takes many forms and Opera Omaha's HCOF Fellows (Gwenna, Jared, Kate, and Kaitlin) lead creative workshops and programming for all ages. Since we can’t be in the community in person, we’ve adapted and created a few of our #HCOFCreativityPrompts for your use at home. Each weekday we’ll post a different prompt on our blog and share on our social media platforms. These activities can be done alone or with others. Creativity is not just for kids, and these prompts are written for a wide variety of audiences so feel free to modify as needed!

Today's Creativity Prompt

Colors: Spots, Dots, and Feelings

Description
Take a moment to experience the colors that appear when you squeeze your eyes closed and check in with feelings.

Time to complete
5 minutes.

Materials
Paper and pencil (optional)

Instructions
Sit down however you’re most comfortable. Squeeze your eyes closed as tightly as possible until you start to see spots and dots. Notice the light and dark. Do you see any colors? If so, take note of them.

Open your eyes again and jot them down on a piece of paper.

Close your eyes again, this time more gently. Trying “looking” behind your eyelids. What do you see? Is it a blur of color? Is there a pattern? Write down what you see on a piece of paper.

Close your eyes a third time. This time ask yourself how you’re feeling. Try to be specific. Now ask yourself, “if that feeling was a color, what color would it be?” Write down the color and/or feeling that comes to your “mind’s eye” on a piece of paper.

Now that you’ve identified a color look around you, wherever you are, and find something that is the same or similar color as your feeling or mood. Maybe it’s the green of fresh grass, the red on the handle of your toothbrush, or the yellow of your legal pad. Once you’ve found the color ask yourself, what about that color matches the way you are feeling? What is beautiful about the color you’re looking at? What is unique or different about this version of color than another? Is it dull or more vibrant? Is it shiny or matte? Does it have a pattern or texture?

Now take a final moment to experience the color in whatever way you so choose!

Optional
To discover more about the correlation between colors and feelings check the “Mood Meter”
Yale’s Mood Meter Overview
Full Mood Meter

Sharing Suggestions
If you enjoyed this activity reach out and share it with a friend, personally, or on social media. Comment on this activity’s Facebook post or tag @OperaOmaha in an Instagram Story with #hcofcreativityprompts.

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