so i quit church today

[imnothere]

as i said i didnt quit because i didnt believe it, i quit because it wasnt helpful at this time.
but as i also said that really wasnt the point of this thread.

if green is soothing, is it because of our herbivorous past? i can still feell the "hunter gatherer" pull in my life to rejoice in spring and 'hibernate' in the winter. when its cold and snowy i have a terrible time getting out of bed, i can wake up momentarily, but i wont fully wake till i get out of bed. so long as there isnt cold/ snow i can wake up and hang out in bed untill i want to be up and be just fine getting out of bed when ever. but as soon as that first flake caresses the air i just want to sleep until the sent of crocus wakes me in the spring. its not depression, so its not seasonal depressive disorder (i know people who have that so i KNOW i dont)
same story in the spring, as soon as the dead looking brambles start waking up and just before they pull that thin green vial over them selves about a week before the crocus come up i feel massively alive, impossibly powerful, overly energetic, and with a drive to live life to its fullest.

taking those to yearly experiences into account i would hypothesis that green is soothing because of our hunter gatherer past, or maybe even something further back.

[Rota]

as i said i didnt quit because i didnt believe it.

I didn't assume you were having a crisis of faith.
Stopping the attendance of church does not equal losing your religion.

[Rodri]

Our vision registers and distinguishes more shades of green than any other colour by a very large number. Even desert people love green and will expend large amounts of resources and effort to create pleasure gardens in fairly hostile environments. I know in myself, I am more comfortable and at times even awe-struck in green wild places. To me, walking through an old-growth forest is more of a religious experience than going to any church.

It's probably those old hunter-gatherer instincts at play, yes but why? I mean, we aren't even really equipped to eat just leaves and grass. Our appendix is small and quite useless and we only have one stomach. If we tried to live on a diet of just (uncooked) greens I think we might get quite ill after a while. But the colour green is said to be a healing colour and is also said to symbolise hope. It is the colour of new life in spring I guess but even people who live in the tropics are still drawn to green even though they are surrounded by it all year round. It really must go right back to the common roots of all humanity and perhaps even further back than that.

[Ikeni]

if green is soothing, is it because of our herbivorous past? i can still feell the "hunter gatherer" pull in my life to rejoice in spring and 'hibernate' in the winter. when its cold and snowy i have a terrible time getting out of bed, i can wake up momentarily, but i wont fully wake till i get out of bed. so long as there isnt cold/ snow i can wake up and hang out in bed untill i want to be up and be just fine getting out of bed when ever. but as soon as that first flake caresses the air i just want to sleep until the sent of crocus wakes me in the spring. its not depression, so its not seasonal depressive disorder (i know people who have that so i KNOW i dont)
same story in the spring, as soon as the dead looking brambles start waking up and just before they pull that thin green vial over them selves about a week before the crocus come up i feel massively alive, impossibly powerful, overly energetic, and with a drive to live life to its fullest.

taking those to yearly experiences into account i would hypothesis that green is soothing because of our hunter gatherer past, or maybe even something further back.

Personally I think we have our opinions on certain colours due to our own life experiences, our thoughts and imagination as a result of that and exposure to interpretations involving colours via the media, such as black being considered a colour representing evil. I however don't think that our stance on colours is something ingrained in our DNA though, because to make for an example while we may consider black a colour representing evil, in ancient Carthaginian society the colour white was considered one of death; the Sacred Band used white on their shields.

Suffice to say, I think our attitudes in regards to certain colours is based on subjective interpretation of the connotations which each of them provides in regards to its context.

[imnothere]

I didn't assume you were having a crisis of faith.
Stopping the attendance of church does not equal losing your religion.

you werent, but it seemed that if i didnt say something the conversation would soon turn in that direction

Our vision registers and distinguishes more shades of green than any other colour by a very large number. Even desert people love green and will expend large amounts of resources and effort to create pleasure gardens in fairly hostile environments. I know in myself, I am more comfortable and at times even awe-struck in green wild places. To me, walking through an old-growth forest is more of a religious experience than going to any church.

It's probably those old hunter-gatherer instincts at play, yes but why? I mean, we aren't even really equipped to eat just leaves and grass. Our appendix is small and quite useless and we only have one stomach. If we tried to live on a diet of just (uncooked) greens I think we might get quite ill after a while. But the colour green is said to be a healing colour and is also said to symbolise hope. It is the colour of new life in spring I guess but even people who live in the tropics are still drawn to green even though they are surrounded by it all year round. It really must go right back to the common roots of all humanity and perhaps even further back than that.

i agree that walking through a beautiful old wood is exceptionally soothing and opens, my soul at least, to its surroundings more and brings home to me why i came there in the first place. for peace and serenity, for sanctuary and for the space necessary to process everything i think and feel and am.i go to the woods to remember who i am.
and i do feel an "ancestral pull" toward mountain forests. but i have as yet to learn why.

Personally I think we have our opinions on certain colours due to our own life experiences, our thoughts and imagination as a result of that and exposure to interpretations involving colours via the media, such as black being considered a colour representing evil. I however don't think that our stance on colours is something ingrained in our DNA though, because to make for an example while we may consider black a colour representing evil, in ancient Carthaginian society the colour white was considered one of death; the Sacred Band used white on their shields.

Suffice to say, I think our attitudes in regards to certain colours is based on subjective interpretation of the connotations which each of them provides in regards to its context.

i would agree with you as well to a point. for the longest time blue was the most soothing color to me, and green was a bit too vibrant and yellow glaringly offensive.
now green is soothing, blue calming and sleepy-peaceful, yellow is still irritating but as much as it was. red sill irritates me except in its darkest forms.
but black always has been like the thickest warmest blanket ever wrapped around my shoulders on a cold winter night. i have never been afraid of the dark or anything that lurks in darkness.
probably because i have a dangerously high curiosity level

[Fallbreeze]

Maybe you're drawn to the mountain forests not only for the peacefulness of them, but also for the fact that mountains are thought of to be 'sacred', due to the height and sacrifice of time and effort due to climb them. Plus, no matter whether your in the daytime or nighttime, the view from a mountain is breathtaking, and if you're particularly daring, you can climb a tree to get up even higher, to take in the splendor of nature.

[imnothere]

something about the smell of them actually. they say lavender is a soothing smell but dry lavender makes me cross and the only time i have found the smell of lavender soothing is when its getting rained on.
but the smell of a mountain wood is always calming, invigorating, and blissful. to me.

[Moghedien]

I make candles for christmas every year and my favorite scent is Evergreen pine.

[Rodri]

The green thing, that was just a starting point for a bit of philosophical discussion, which we did but it seems to have reached some sort of inconclusive conclusion.

An inconclusive conclusion.

Interesting turn of phrase that. It's sort of how I feel about religions in general and where the inconclusive bits are, that is where they call for faith. Many religious people would say that I lack faith and in some ways that is true. As I have said before, unless I can gather enough evidence for an idea to either prove or disprove it conclusively I tend to remain open minded rather than follow along just on faith.

Then again, we all live in faith these days. I have faith that I will get paid for my work and my landlord has faith that I will pay the rent. I also have faith that the banks will stay open and my money will be available when I need it, as does everyone else. If we didn't, the whole financial system might collapse. So we live in faith every day, even if it is not faith in the existence of a super-natural being.

[imnothere]

The green thing, that was just a starting point for a bit of philosophical discussion, which we did but it seems to have reached some sort of inconclusive conclusion.

An inconclusive conclusion.

Interesting turn of phrase that. It's sort of how I feel about religions in general and where the inconclusive bits are, that is where they call for faith. Many religious people would say that I lack faith and in some ways that is true. As I have said before, unless I can gather enough evidence for an idea to either prove or disprove it conclusively I tend to remain open minded rather than follow along just on faith.

Then again, we all live in faith these days. I have faith that I will get paid for my work and my landlord has faith that I will pay the rent. I also have faith that the banks will stay open and my money will be available when I need it, as does everyone else. If we didn't, the whole financial system might collapse. So we live in faith every day, even if it is not faith in the existence of a super-natural being.

i agree. and use of faith and having that faith not invalidated strengthens it to a point where one calls it knowledge. "i have faith in my bank so i know my money will be there" its interesting what we know because we have faith in some one or some thing.

i have faith in microbiology when i have faith in the studies that tell me that proper hygiene is good for my health.
i have faith in scientists and mechanics when i dive my car or enjoy talking on my cell phone or doing anything on my computer.
i have faith in my self when i try anything new.

there are a million times a day when we must excersize our faith weather we know it or not.