The Lemon Effect
Trigger warning: overuse of lemon metaphors.
On holiday in Cambridge, a lemon placed on a black dish, in a dark corner, in the shadow of a sombre painting, lit up the room.
I couldn’t stop thinking about it!
Read on for some lemon in a dark corner insights…
All you need is a lemon…
…was the conclusion I came to in the Kettle’s Yard house and gallery in Cambridge.
Wandering around the artists’ home, I was struck by just how beautifully curated, tasteful and restrained it all was.
I had to fight the urge to race home, throw away all our belongings and place a shrivelled lemon from the fruit bowl in the middle of the sitting room floor.
The delicate treasures dotted around the tables, shelves and window sills got me thinking.
1. Where did these artists keep all their stuff?
2. If the humble lemon can pack such a punch, lifting a dark corner and making a whole room feel purposeful and vibrant - what could a metaphorical lemon do?
How could small, colourful moments, thoughts, actions and decisions gently infuse our lives with colour, just like that hard-working lemon?
We spend years focusing our energy on building a home, family, career. Putting ourselves last becomes our default setting and we arrive in midlife completely shattered. It’s not surprising ‘seeking out moments of joy’ rarely makes it onto our to-do lists.
However as excellent multi-taskers, problem-solvers and sorter-outers, we CAN find a way to give ourselves the time we need.
Pick just one thing that brightens your day and build from there.
It could be literally anything that makes you smile, feel rested, calm or joyful. It’s a moment just for you, when you’re putting yourself first.
Turns out my metaphorical lemon is an actual lemon. How convenient for this post!
I bought some lemon postcards in the gallery shop - always the best part of any cultural outing.
I’ve been gathering yellow postcards and images since and am planning a noticeboard style collage.
Every day I flick through a magazine or spot something colourful to photograph that I’d like to add. I may not even get round to finishing (likely), but the moments I take every day thinking about it are enough.
The more we seek out these moments, the more we will find, and, the more we find, the more colourful life becomes. The lemon effect!! I feel I should copyright that.
What would your lemon be?
Find out at The Lemon Effect - a free online workshop coming in 2026
This blog post is dedicated to Krista, a kindred lemon spirit.