Self Discovery

It’s interesting how little we actually know about ourselves, even after living in these bodies of ours for decades. Today took me down an interesting path of self discovery with someone who knows just the right questions to ask.

My friend KC’s daughter SC flew in from Chicago yesterday with the express purpose of assisting two of us with a wardrobe analysis. We had both done our homework – found pictures of ourselves, found pictures in magazines, answered questions up front.


My session was this morning. We started with a brief meditation. Then our discussion turned to style. We talked about my clothing needs as dictated by my current lifestyle. We talked about colors I like and found words to describe the image I would like to portray:

Put-together
Creative
Bohemian
Feminine
Artistic
Eccentric
Unusual
Interesting

She asked me to complete two sentences:

When I go out I want to FEEL: happy and great about myself.
When I go out I want to LOOK: put-together, coordinated, somewhat fashionable, folky, artsy.

She asked about a time when I really liked the way I looked. I pulled out this ancient photo from my high school days when I was in the Jr. Miss Pageant, wearing a suit I had made. And yes, sadly, my talent was SEWING!


Then we came back to the present and moved on to look at my existing wardrobe. With SC’s help, we shopped my closets and made outfits that I didn’t even know I had. She suggested new ways to wear old things. She kept a running shopping list for things I might like to acquire.


I tried on the leather jacket I had made in 1971. Despite feeling like a straight-jacket in 2008, it reminded me of how much I love real leather. And LEATHER JACKET went on the shopping list.


By the time we were through, I had a much clearer idea of where my wardrobe was ultimately going. And most importantly I had a reason to shop for things like:

Leather jacket
Vest
White shirt with some ruffle
Floral-patterned dress
Couple of arty necklaces

I also now had a label for my style: Put-together folky artistic

Whoever knew that what I had always thought of as simply Bohemian funk could have such a fancy title?

But the fun continues. Sometime in the Fall, there is a road trip to Chicago to shop with the lovely SC in the many little boutiques she has discovered. This also means hours and hours of togetherness on various boring turnpikes with some of my best friends as we learn about fashion and about each other. Life is indeed very good!