30 Day Challenge Completed!

I’ve been talking a lot lately about Dressing Your Truth and The Child Whisperer, and Energy Profiling in general. I’ve loved it all. When I bought my Dressing Your Truth course, it comes with a 30 day challenge to go through your course and learn how to dress and accessorize for your type of beauty, and then to dress your own personal truth for 30 days. I took the challenge and completed it! I feel amazing. What’s on the inside of me is reflected on the outside of me. I feel dynamic and confident. It’s seriously been such and interesting change, and all around process…it’s about way more than just clothes and hair and makeup.

I don’t really know why exactly, but for years now, I’ve been trying to bite down my tongue and fade into the background, to be more soft and subtle, and unnoticeable;  which is NOT my nature! I’ve been feeling really passive-aggressive about it. This program, and the books I’ve been reading, have been really emotional, and freeing, because I know it’s ok to be me. I can be bold, I can be dynamic and active…yes, I need to be tactful and sensitive to other people, but I need to SPEAK when I feel so inclined, instead of holding back and being afraid that what I have to say will be too much, or come across pushy, or direct. I am a spirited, energetic, feisty, passionate person, and for too long I have been trying to shove that into a closet. Maybe because I’ve viewed some of those traits in a negative light. But no more. I've got the eye of the tiger, and you’re gonna hear me roar! As the song goes. :)

I had an interesting experience the other night, as I was mulling this all over in my head, specifically about trying to hold my tongue, and not speaking up, particularly in situations where I know it’s the right thing to do (like standing up for something I believe, or sticking up for a person). I was reading my scriptures in 1 Nephi, it’s during some of the Isaiah chapters, so I’m not sure what exactly the scripture is literally talking about, but holy cow, I can tell you what jumped right off the page and karate-chopped my eyeballs. 1 Ne. 21:2-3 “And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me. And said unto me: Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” The Lord made me the way I am. He made me active and feisty and passionate. But even more importantly, he did it for a purpose.  He made my mouth “like a sharp sword” so that I could glorify Him. In my patriarchal blessing I am told repeatedly that I will have opportunities to “speak and teach”, probably to share the gospel, is my guess. And if I’m going to be able to do that in today’s world I am going to have to be bold, direct, and powerful; unflinching from what I know is right and good and true. No beating around the bush. No hiding in a corner.

Coming to this realization is kind of scary. But also freeing, because I’ve felt this wave of energy within me all along but have been trying to suppress it. But now I can feed it and fuel it and let it come out in all it’s glory, and see what happens.

I think the dressing part is just an outward sign of what’s going on inside, but I’m not gonna lie, it’s been pretty fun. I finally know what clothes go together, and what accessories will go with the clothes, and how to do my makeup to tie everything in together. I know what colors look good on me, and I know how to shop for what I need and what I want. I’m trying things (like earrings, belts, bracelets, skinny jeans) that I NEVER would have been brave enough to try in a million years. But I know how to try them the right way so that they work for me, instead of just looking silly. And the really cool thing is, that most of the changes I’ve made are just little tweaks…I part my hair a little further over, I do my eyeliner slightly different…but WOW the improvement is incredible!

So that’s my official Before and After picture above, but I also took lots of pictures along the way, and thought it would be fun to put them up here as evidence of my journey. Enjoy!

First thing I had to do was start wearing earrings again. During my course, I found out that my metals are gold, bronze, and copper. I also found out that my jewelry is supposed to be substantial, chunky, and textured. The minuscule amount of jewelry I owned was silver and tiny. So, I had to invest in a couple of pieces to get me started, and then work my way from there. It took me a solid two weeks to get used to wearing earrings.

This chunky tiger's eye necklace though, I fell head-over-heels in love with it immediately. The weight of it is comfortable on my neck, grounding almost. And that fact that it's made out of rocks instead of plastic, or something gives me an earthy feel that I love.

 And my purse felt huge at first, like a giant red sign calling attention to itself...but now I love it.

I did my best to make things I already owned work. I painted these earrings blue with nail polish.

And I dyed these jeans to be a dirty wash. (And I've been dyeing everything...but you've read all about that.)

My birthday came at a really opportune time this year, and I was able to go shopping and get a few pieces to fit my new style. My clothes are supposed to by textured, angular (think v-neck), and substantial (think layers, and jean fabric).

Soooo, new hair for me is all about texture, it's chunky, and has medium contrast. I've been trying to flip mine up in the back, and make it look a little more piece-y. I haven't taken the plunge to go get it cut or dyed yet, but it's in my future. ;) I also love my spiky earrings, because they fit all the requirements but aren't dangle-y, so Ollie can't pull them. And my new Go Walk Sketchers are to die for. Seriously, they are like walking on a cloud.

Here are some more necklace, earring, hair, shots...as well as more of my colors. Oh! And I should mention make-up, most notable is the lip color. Yes...for the first time in my entire life, I am wearing color on my lips. And of course my Type doesn't do anything subtly, so it's rich, dynamic color. Aka dark...think the colors black ladies would wear. :) 

This is my St. Paddy's Day green. :) 

I have acquired quite the necklace collection...still trying to come up with a brilliant idea for necklace storage, since my current jewelry box would hold, oh, maybe ONE of my necklaces. :) Also humorous, the two in the middle were my very first two necklaces...I thought they were HUGE! Haha! Now they are some of my smallest pieces.

You can see my eye liner pretty well in this picture. I go 2/3rds over on the top, and just barely enough on the bottom to create a point at the corner of my eye.

Once I was comfortable with earrings and necklaces, the next items on the list were skinny jeans and belts. And I don't mean through-your-pant-loops, hold-your-pants-up, functional belts either. I mean accessory belts. Think wide. This is the first outfit I ever wore a belt with, and I felt so awkward the first day, like everyone was looking at my belt (they weren't). But I've gotten used to how they feel, and I actually really like them! They are super for keeping that little baby pooch under control. And I really like how they look. I have a really long torso, so wide belts are a nice accessory for me. And the skinny jeans aren't bad either. I think I'll like them more when the weather warms up a bit, but right now I get cold and have to wear socks, and they just look kind of funny with socks. 

I thought the flower belt would be my favorite, and I do like it a lot, but I actually like this one the best so far. I don't know what it is about it, but I feel like it fits my personality really well. Or maybe I just feel really good wearing it, who knows. 

 My most recent venture has been scarves and bracelets. Supposedly, I can pull off a stack of bracelets that go from wrist to, pretty much, elbow... but right now one feels like a lot. And it has to be the right kinds of bracelet too. Some thing flat, that won't poke my wrist when I'm typing or writing. And I'm not a big fan of bangles or cuffs (yet). I love my scarf though. I'll take a scarf over a necklace any day of the week. Much more comfortable. Also, my Type is big into animal print...me, not so much. But this scarf was a subtle enough tribute to animal print that I could stomach it. And, actually, I really, really love this scarf. I feel like a million bucks when I have it on.

The bracelet, meh, I'm still getting used to it. But I like the way it looks. 

So their is my thirty-day journey. I still have a long way to go, and it can only get better from here. One thing I'll be experimenting with in the near future is cowboy boots! I've always wanted some, but always been so afraid...haha! And now I can't wait, because I know they'll work, and I know what to put with them to make them work.

 But seriously, I'm really satisfied with the results of this whole process. Money well spent. It's great to walk into my closet every morning and know I have something awesome to put on. And it's even better knowing that how I'm dressed on the outside, reminds me of who I am on the inside, and that it's ok to let that loud, passionate, opinionated person come out and shine like she was meant to. I don't know where I lost her in the first place, but I'm glad she's coming back.