MY KARMA, THE CHAMELEON
5.7.07

Meet Chamaeleo pardalis, a chameleon species found in the forests of Madagascar. Chameleons can produce a wide range of colors and patterns on their skin, but they do this primarily to express mood, not to blend in with different environments (from: http://www.howstuffworks.com/animal-camouflage2.htm)

My son is doing his kindergarten science project on animal camouflage and so we started looking for pictures of camouflaged animals, and low and behold: the chameleon. And I learned something new. I had always assumed that these magical creatures changed colors to disguise and protect themselves from predators. I had no idea that a chamelon's emotions triggered the change. How cool is that?

Maybe chameleons have bipolar disorder. I would like to express my mood with color, please.

I think the world would be a rather interesting (dare i say better) place if, like chameleons, we humans changed colors in response to our true mood. Perhaps we would be more understanding of one another. Perhaps we would be more connected by our common emotions, rather than divided by our feelings. Perhaps we wouldn't need those masks. We could just show our true colors, and not have to think about whether it was okay or normal. And perhaps, it would be easier to support each other. Perhaps loving and acceptance would be easier.

Maybe, if we were like chameleons, I could understand what was behind my husband's quiet mood. He couldn't get away with saying, "Nothing." If I could just see his mood, I wouldn't have to say, "I don't believe you." I could just say, "Your'e looking a little blue."

Karma karma karma karma karma chameleon
You come and go, you come and go
Loving would be easy if your colours were like my dream
Red, gold and green
Red, gold and green