I recently came across an article on CNN called "The Psychology of Black and Why We're Afraid of the Dark" by Daniella Emanuel. She takes a point made by Leatrice Eiseman, who is a color specialist and executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, and runs with it throughout the article. Eiseman says, "Over the past 50 to 100 years, the color black has gone through a major transition."

The color black was once, and at times still, is associated with morose or dismal feelings and occurrences. Wearing black to a funeral, for instance, is something that our culture still takes part in. In our language, black things more often allude to negative things. Kids as young as the age of three have been taught to be afraid of black animals, and many people think black animals, like cats, bring bad luck. More commonly than not, black is associated with morbidity and grieving. There is a certain power the word holds now in our social construct. But Eiseman says that's changing.

What I found especially interesting in Emanuel's article is the psychology behind why we are afraid of black, more specifically darkness itself, because it makes so much sense! Emanuel refers to Martin Antony, a professor of psychology at Ryerson University in Toronto. He explains fear the same as pain, saying "fear is just like pain. Fear is there to protect us from possible harm, so that fear makes us more vigilant for possible danger." In the dark, our sense of vision diminishes, and this makes us feel more vulnerable. Historically, people were at more of a risk to be attacked by a predator or enemy while in the dark. Antony says, "being scared of the dark is a prepared fear."

"How we see colors in nature has such an important effect on the human psyche," Eiseman says. So, we're afraid of the dark as simply an affect of human nature. But now that modern culture is upon us, we have the ability to turn on the lights at night, or any time the dark has us feeling vulnerable. Despite knowing this fact, some of us can still never shake this fear of the dark, or Nyctophobia. These fears can become debilitating to people. If you know someone who doesn't like to go out at night, or sleeps with a night light on, they may be a Nyctophobe!

But now black is making a whole new statement. Every woman has that little black dress in her closet, the black heels or shoes, or even the black work slacks. Eiseman says "I think more people think of it as kind of an enveloping kind of color that they can pull around them that gives them a certain degree of security," Then she added, "They can kind of fade into the shadows." Black is also a flattering color on most shapes, dark colors tend to hide what you don't want to be seen.

Emanuel closes her article with a few paragraphs on the ambivalence that is "built into black." She says, "It is up to the individual to either fear what lurks in the darkness or become one with it."

The choice is yours!