I came across a TikTok slideshow of a variety of colored papers carefully organized at the back of a classroom. I stared at the photo of a joyful, bright and exciting stack of yellow papers left forgotten. But for what reason? I imagined the elementary classroom decorated with a variety of colors. Along with boxes filled with colorful toys, the lid opened a little almost as if inviting the tiny playful hands. As the teacher dismissed the students to pick up a colored sheet of paper, the children quickly scurried through the desks to get to the back of the room and pick their favorite color.
As the crowd of students reduced to only a couple kids, all of the other colors, once placed nicely on the table, were almost gone. Yellow was the only stack of papers that was close to reaching the ceiling. I never liked bright colors like yellow. It’s such a loud color and a bit unpleasant to look at. But as I stared at the tall sheets of paper, I began to feel sorry for it. It sat there, freshly placed by the teacher, untouched by the children.
I imagined it being excited for it to be picked up by other students only to remain fresh and still. I imagined the yellow paper watching as all the other colors got chosen. I imagined the yellow stack getting knocked over from the pile by the students crowding around for their favorite color. I imagined the yellow paper growing envious of his neighboring colors, wondering why the students didn’t pick the color yellow.
“What is wrong with the yellow paper?” I wondered to myself. Is it too bright for a craft, a thank you note, a birthday card or a get well soon card. I envisioned the children cutting their paper, folding and drawing while the stack of yellow papers watched from the back of the classroom. I felt incredibly stupid and ridiculous for caring so much about a stack of blinding yellow papers. Why was I upset over an inanimate object? Then it wasn’t about the paper. It was about being left out and rejected. The empathy I have over the yellow paper reminded me of how we normally disregard the things in our lives. We sometimes become selfish by desiring value and appreciation for ourselves, that we easily forget that others are wishing for the same.
This simple moment opened a new perspective for me to see the larger picture. How often do we notice that someone else is feeling left out? How often do we notice someone having a bad day? And how often do we try to comfort those who feel this way regardless of our relationship with them. I realized how often we look at objects or even people and automatically judge them without knowing their true value to our society.
Feeling empathy for the yellow paper shouldn’t feel stupid. Empathy is such an important quality for someone to have. The other colors should have been able to empathize with yellow and understand its jealousy towards them. Empathy allows us to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes and understand their struggles. Perhaps not the situation but the feeling. Understanding the feelings are so important as it allows us to bond and connect with peers. This sentiment gives us hope in humanity as the world is filled with hatred and evil, empathy can help give others hope about the goodness of man-kind.
It wasn’t the yellow paper’s fault that it didn’t get picked. It was just being itself. Maybe it didn’t get picked because it wasn’t enough for the students. Maybe it was because nobody saw the true value of the color and the use of the paper. Nobody understood it or tried to. Nobody decided to think of putting themselves in the position of the yellow paper. And that’s what most of us lack. We often lack the ability to recognize the “unseen” or “unworthy” parts of our everyday lives. And that’s what empathy is all about. We should begin to realize that everything has a purpose, everyone is an important part of the world. We should see all the beauty in everyday items that we normally don’t take the time to notice.
As I stared at the picture one last time, I realized that the yellow paper was a reminder. A reminder to notice the unnoticed, to care and to understand. The yellow paper wasn’t the issue. The paper didn’t need to change anything about itself. It just needed to be seen by someone who knew what it felt like to be overlooked.
