MISSION Our mission is to offer a sense of creative control and agency, a feeling of energy,
and a sense of freedom that turns the life being lived into the colorful life desired. Watch for future COLOR UP WORKSHOPS near you! All events have been postponed due to the corona virus. New dates will be posted when available. April 1, 2020. “More on a Colorful Life: Out in the World.” Karen and Ann are excited to have another opportunity to teach a Lifelong Learning workshop on ways to use COLOR Up in daily practice to stay unstuck using color through Continuing Education at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM June 14, 2020. "Reviving Your Creative Spirit Using Color." Join Ann for a fun hands-on experience using color as a prompt to keep your creative juices flowing. Her message is profound: You are never stuck, no matter the circumstances. She will also talk about her experiences writing a nonfiction book at the Indiana Writers Center in Indianapolis, IN November 2020. “Alchemy of Collaboration: Seeds of Colorful Conversations to Publication.” Karen and Ann look forward to teaching a workshop based on their experiences of collaborative writing and their creative processes of never being stuck using color for COLOR Up at the Indiana Writers Center in Indianapolis, IN PAST COLOR UP WORKSHOP April 3, 2019. Karen and Ann had a great experience teaching a Lifelong Learning workshop, “Become the Creative Director of a Colorful Life,” based on COLOR Up and ways to use color to get and stay unstuck through Continuing Education at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM OVERVIEWMany people keep recycling through the same limited options, stuck in the same habitual either/or dilemmas without recognizing the pattern or realizing they can move outside of dualistic thinking. Polarization is everywhere. At every level, from the highest echelons of government to the workplace to personal dilemmas, rigid dichotomies frame how we approach problems.
The approach to colorful living is based on a model of colorful abundance. It offers five interactive techniques for working with life dilemmas differently. These techniques are captured in the acronym COLOR: Connect to make new space for change. Optimize to identify new options. Lighten to focus on appreciation and the more playful side of life. Oops to allow yourself a U-turn when you realize you want a different choice. Ripple to stay centered and aware of your colorful possibilities. AUDIENCEWe work with individuals as well as community groups who wish to make changes in their lives. Workshops, classes and leadership training sessions may be customized for particular groups and organizations. One-on-one counseling with the COLOR techniques is also available. Those who work with populations ready for change - therapists, counselors, social workers, teachers, and trainers - find great value in these workshops. Those in moments of transition and those working with such populations - welfare-to-work, returning to school, probation or rehabilitation - are especially enthusiastic about what this approach offers.
OUR UNIQUE APPROACH
Amber attended a COLOR Up workshop and made the decision to see the world as an abundance of options rather than limited to either/or choices. "I was beginning to realize I made either/or judgments all the time - old fart or young hunk, tomboy or girlie girl, hippie or corporate climber, Christian or heathen." Even her lunchtime choices were affected. Stopping at a fast food drive through, Amber realized she didn't want junk food or a salad - she didn't want either/or for lunch anymore. She consciously asked herself what another option would be and then saw a sign advertising kids' meals. She was excited as she ordered one, knowing she was beginning to move toward a more colorful world. When the order came, she was even more delighted to find that a pair of huge lime green sunglasses came with it. She laughed as she put the glasses on, having fun with literally seeing new possibilities. |
Workshop Testimonials"Incredible 'light bulb' moments. Thank you." "Caring, clear, conscientious, creative." "Ann and Karen did an excellent job of creating a comfortable and safe discussion environment." "I liked the visual component of color. It allowed me to think of more creative solutions and to think in terms of baby steps instead of giant opposing leaps." "Spending time with other women who felt 'stuck' created a sense of support and decreased my feeling of aloneness." "I was forced to think in a way unconventional to me. I realized that thinking is a process that I am at the center of!" "I especially appreciated the combination of hands and mind - we got to literally play with and experience color sensually and visually and were given an intellectual foundation for understanding these ideas." "I really appreciated the feedback on my particular binary dilemma. It helped just to hear myself talk out my issues. I felt like there was a lot of strength in the room." "It was neat to see how simple other people's problems seem. It makes me realize how complicated I make things by taking myself so seriously." "I'm glad COLOR Up isn't an 'academic' book. Maybe I can get my mom to read it! " 
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