great thread! I am also a color nut, Jeri, and get excited by many things involving color: films, paintings, gardens, clothes, cities, shops, flowers, fabrics, foods, forests, etc. Have you read the book Chroma by Derek Jarman? It's a fascinating book on color. I also have Derek Jarman's Garden, a great photography book. Jarman was a filmmaker who died of AIDS. I thnk Chroma is out of print but I sometimes have my students read excerpts from it so I could send you some if you like. It's arranged in chapters about color: Green Fingers, Grey Matter, Seeing Red, etc.)

my own list:

1) Walk outside at least once a day. In nature if possible, but cities have their own way of helping you unwind. Look for something beautiful, or at least interesting. Vary your route, but also watch for how your same route changes with the seasons or weather or time of day.

2) Eat as well as you can afford to. Fresh, organic produce and humanely-raised meats. Cook for yourself; very satisfying and easy once you get the hang of it. Libraries and used bookstores are full of cookbooks. Eat to live but don't live to eat.

3) Learn to love thrift shops. The amount of money one can save buying previously-owned (but sometimes never-used) clothing or household items is staggering! If you, like most people, are not wealthy, you'll be able to afford to travel or other "luxuries."

4) Travel. Near, or far. nothing quite beats going to another place for some fresh perspective and mind/soul expansion.

5) Cultivate some close friendships. No one needs a huge gaggle of pals and most of us don't have time for it. But having a few people you can call anytime for a chat or get-together, this is priceless.

6) Read. Re-read old favorites, tackle something new. The library is one of the greatest concepts know to man. Keep that mind working. Put yourself in someone else's shoes for a while.

7) Music, of course. Listen, play, sing. Plenty of opportunities to hear live music for free in cities, but if there's isn't much music where you are consider starting a folk circle or music appreciation group...

8) Be thankful, every day. You ARE fortunate, even if it does not seem so most days. If you have your health, a home, friends, family, a livelihood, food on the table, and something that makes you happy, well, you have more than a whole lot of people on Planet Earth. If you are very fortunate and are talented, attractive, energetic, blessed with friends, and possessed of more than you need to live comfortably, consider sharing some of those gifts with others.

9) Work for change. Don't just complain, or resign yourself to misery. There are some who literally can't help themselves. You can be of use, somewhere.

10) Last but not least: DON'T LITTER! And, within reason, suggest that those who do should pick up after themselves.