Reveling in Winter White: Cloud Dancer

I have been waiting and waiting for a snow day.  Today, I finally got one, but it’s Saturday, so it’s not the same as having a snow day on a school day.  No, it definitely is not.  However, it was so nice to sleep late, open my drapes, and see the world bound in soft snow.  My whole soul feels blanketed, comforted, and ready to rest for a little while.  I think that is one of the main reasons I eagerly anticipate snow.  It helps me relax.  It allows me to take everything off my schedule and gives me permission to spend some time with reading, drawing, and writing.  Otherwise, I’m distracted by news, chores, and all manner of the busy world.  This morning, the snow called for me to breathe, slow my pace, and put my mind in order. It opened up a space for me to write and wonder, to dream and create.  I definitely have a deficit in those areas.  I don’t think I have attention deficit; I think I have intention deficit.  I get so involved in so many day-to-day comings and goings that I forget what is most important to me.  Thank goodness, nature has a way of reminding me, bringing back, pulling me into its healing sphere.

Recently, I came across an article announcing the 2026 Color of the Year.  It piqued my interest, and I kept on researching.  I often enjoy wandering down rabbit holes.  This one took me to the website of Pantone, a company that standardizes colors for precise color-matching.  This gives graphic design, fashion, and manufacturing industries a universal language for color. Coincidentally, Pantone’s headquarters is in Carlstadt, New Jersey, very close to where I grew up.

Pantone introduced the Color of the Year in 1999, chosen by a global team of color experts. In the last five years, the Colors of the Year have been: Classic Blue (2020), Illuminating (yellow) and Ultimate Gray (2021), Very Peri (2022), Viva Magenta (2023), Peach Fuzz (2024), and Mocha Mousse (2025).  For 2026 (drum roll, please), the experts for Pantone chose Cloud Dancer.  Yep, white, plain old white. I thought white was the absence of color, but apparently, I have been mistaken.  As you can imagine, Cloud Dancer is a soft, billowy white. To me, it is a diffused white with hints of gray, blue, yellow, a tinge of pink, and a dash of lilac – like staring up into a winter sky and watching clouds float by.  Instead of being associated with absence, omission, and deprivation, Cloud Dancer signifies a sense of serenity and calm – definitely something we all need more of in 2026.  May this new year be a blank canvas on which to paint quiet reflection, tranquility, and clarity.  May it provide you with all the space you need to create and dream.