cocktail glasses are yellow.
I’ve got yellow eye shadow,
yellow hair dye, yellow
underwear, yellow earrings.
Upstairs in our house is my
shrine to yellow. A sofa with
yellow cushions and a yellow
velvet throw, in front of big
gold balloons that spell the
word... SUNSHINE.
They call people who
wear only one colour
‘monochromatic’, and
that’s me now. Every item
of clothing I wear is a
shade of yellow.
But it’s become about so
much more than just wearing
yellow. I want to bring
sunshine into people’s lives
because I needed it in mine.
This is because, back in
2016, I started to feel like there
was something wrong with me.
I felt empty, exhausted and
burnt out. I’d moved to Los
Angeles from Coventry whenI was 17 and had been working
for the same marketing
company for eight years. I was
a workaholic and I’d stopped
giving myself any time.
I read an article about
mental health and realised
I was in the depths of
depression. It was difficult to
admit because I thought I was
the poster child for happiness- always smiling, making
people laugh and dressing
brightly. But inside, I felt
numb and joyless.
As 2017 began, I vowed
to find the time to take a
photograph of something
yellow every day of the year.
I knew my depression was
rooted in the fact I’d put
happiness on the back burner
while I gave my soul to a
corporation. I thought
a creative hobby would help
me feel cheerful again.
I uploaded the pictures to
my own business,
Stories Around The Sun,
offering book-editing and
consultancy to people who
want to tell their stories. The
projects keep me busy, fulfilled
and, most importantly, happy.
People think I just get up,
wear yellow and make money,
but it’s not as simple as that.
I have to work hard, but
there’s nothing else I’d
rather be doing.
Every time I look at the
news, hear a sad story or see
an injustice, something boils
up inside me. It’s a feeling
that we must do something
to counter all this negativity.
Whether that’s smiling at
a stranger on the street, going
into a classroom to talk to kids
about kindness or bringing a
pop of happiness to newsfeeds
with my yellow photos, it’s my
mission to spread sunshine.● Follow Ella on
Instagram @ellalondonInstagram, to make sure I
stuck to the goal. Sometimes,
I’d spend hours creating the
perfect photo, and I soon
realised I was looking forward
to the day ahead again. I felt
happy. As people started
telling me my photos felt like
sunshine, I decided to call it
‘Project Sunshine’.
As the year came to an end,
I felt like a new person with a
new goal. Dean supported me
as I left my job to commit to
yellow full-time.
His job as a vocal coach,
producer and writer was going
well and our expenses were
relatively low. Leaving the
safety of a salary was a scary
decision, but the right one.
Now 36, I’ve launchedunshine!
Husband
Dean is a
yellow fan
like Ella‘We must do
something to
counter all this
negativity’WORDS:KIMWILLIS^PICTURES:FANNYTEXIER,^ WYMANLEE,^ MARK^MCKAY‘If^ there’s
one^ thing
I’ve^ learned’
‘Making^ a^ difference^ starts^with^ a^ smile^ and^ a^ dash^
of sunshine!^ It^ can^
really^ brighten^ up^
people’s^ days.’