Quiet Ray of Sunshine

~Deep breath~

I think I'm finally ready to talk about this.

Last fall I had the opportunity to meet Carol Tuttle of Dressing Your Truth fame.  She is the creator of a system that teaches you to dress according to your true nature.  How she does this is by analyzing your facial features for clues.

I had already read her book, Dressing Your Truth, and since she is local to me I decided to head down and pay a visit while she was doing facial profiles in her store one day.  I thought it would be fun! 

After reading her book I couldn't decide if I was a Type 1 {an animated, bubbly kind of person} or a Type 2 {a quiet, reserved person}.  I know, they seem two totally different types but I honestly didn't know!  If you meet me in person, chances are that I will be rather quiet.  My whole life I have been very shy.  Painfully shy.   But I can also be extremely bouncy and animated once I get to know you. {Of course there are more than two types and I am giving ultra simplistic descriptions of the types I thought I was but anyway, back to the story}.

So I patiently waited my turn in line.  When it was finally my turn I kind of bounced forward with a "look at me ~ here I am!" silly kind of grin on my face!  I mean, what else am I supposed to do when you're selfconscious and people are looking at you???

Immediately she exclaimed, "You're a Type 1!!!"

"Really?" I laughed, "Are you sure???"

"Yes!  Your energy just spoke for you as you bounced forward!" she said and then went on to point out how my facial features also indicated my Type 1 nature. 

Hmm.  Interesting I thought as I left.  And then it threw me into turmoil.


What if I had quietly stepped forward?  Would she have thought I was a Type 2 instead?  Am I shy?  Or am I outgoing?  Do I hide my true nature behind the other one?  But which one is my true nature and which one is the one that I hide behind?  Am I really a shy person who hides my true outgoing nature?  Or am I truly an outgoing person who hides behind my shyness?  Which one is my true nature?  Who am I really? 

I'm not kidding when I say that I was in turmoil!  I had to call my mom, my husband and a few others who have known me for a long time.  Which one would you say is my true nature?  Am I shy?  Or am I outgoing?

Then I got mad.  Why am I putting a label on myself?  I hate labels!  Who cares, right?  And I've sat and thought about it for months now.  And I've read her book over and over ~ I highlighted sections out of both types that totally fit me!  I've watched her videos and read her blog.  For some reason I just had to know who I was.

But what I like about her and keep coming back to is that each types perceived weakness is actually a strength and you should pay attention and honor that.  For instance, a lot of fun-loving, outgoing Type 1's tend to hide their true natures behind other types because they feel like they "have to" grow up and be mature and act differently.  When in reality, their outgoing happy natures are a strength to be honored not hidden away!  I kind of like that philosophy!

Though she was speaking about something slightly different, I like how Emily at Chatting at the Sky put it:

"I’m still trying to figure out why I was ashamed of those things, why I fought the art for so long. Maybe it was because I was in my early twenties and still trying to come out of myself. And the self that began to emerge was different from the self I thought I ought to be, so I denied those parts that didn’t seem to fit with my ideal and I tried to work on those parts that seemed best.

I felt guilty for who I was, how I was made. And because I wouldn’t let myself embrace the creativity and all that comes with it, I was denying myself myself. In turn, I was denying everyone else myself, too. I couldn’t love fully or live fully. I don’t want to sound so self-focused, and I know I’m running that risk. But I believe when we allow ourselves to be accurate expressions of how God made us, then we bring him great pleasure. Like a gift. Like worship. He made us certain ways on purpose, didn’t he?" 

So I've thought a lot about my nature and I'm not sure how this fits into her Typing system, but I've decided that I am a quiet ray of sunshine.  Not the blaring, in-your-face type of sunshine ~ I will never be the "life of the party" or "center of attention" kind of gal.  But I am that happy-go-lucky, optimistic kind of gal.  First and foremost a ray of sunshine {the Type 1 in me}, who just happens to quietly beam her light {the Type 2 in me}.  Somehow I am both.  And that's ok.

There is so much about this experience that affected me.  I may talk more about it later, but for now I think this will suffice.

So in matters of dressing my truth, I think I am finally ready to plunk down some cash and learn how to dress my nature and see how it goes.  I am going to try and trust in their system and go with their recommendation that I am a Type 1.   If nothing else, this will be a fun experiment!