(You must understand that in the Veggie Tales song "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything", the chorus starts with "and I've never been to Boston in the fall".)
Miss Boo (waking up and stumbling around her room): ...and I'll never put the hoopdeck on the ball!
-A few days later-
Miss Boo: What does 3 say?
Me: It doesn't say anything. It's a numeral, not a letter. It's just 3.
Miss Boo: Tell me.
Me: It doesn't make a sound, honey, it just says three.
Miss Boo (determined, having grasped the concept that p and h together say "ffff"): What do 3 and 0 say together?
Me (giving up trying to explain that numbers don't have phonics): Thirty.
Miss Boo (satisfied): Sirty.
I include the baby witticisms because I don't want to forget them. Miss Boo is a 4. Buddy is a 3. I have a feeling Littleman will turn out a 1. See below.
Grammy found a fun thing the other day called Dressing Your Truth. I link here not to the actual website--which seems absurdly overpriced--but to my favorite source, someone who blogs about their experience with it. Basically this is like any other personality inventory which categorizes people, with the unique marketing twist that it then tells you how to dress to match your personality. (Male readers: you may think about something else for the next few paragraphs.)
So for instance I am a type 4. (Hands down. Totally and completely. Possibly with a dash of 3. But the other two aren't even on my horizon.) They call this personality "bold and striking" but it's also been called Type A, or Tiger. Basically the big insight is that I should, therefore, wear bold and striking clothes--sleek lines, colors like black, white, and gray, and chunky, powerful jewelry. All the stuff I like already, in other words. It's always nice to be right. :)
The other personality types are, of course, supposed to wear stuff that matches them. My Type 3 (passionate and practical) sister instinctively wears the pretty scarlets, plums, and golds that go well with her nature. I know someone who's a type 2 (soft and subtle) who doesn't wear the soft, flowy, lacy, femme stuff that type 2s are supposed to, but she's going to try it. I'll let you know about the answer. I also know someone who's a type 1, to the core--bouncy, cute, high-energy--and she dresses it instinctively too (she usually wears bright pink running shorts and a ponytail and she looks awesome).
So all this makes sense and I don't think you need their $297 course unless clothes shopping frustration is just wrecking your life--just read the traits etc. in the link above, decide which type fits you, and start telling the truth about who you are with your wardrobe. Yes, even if you are a tall type 2 so you've always figured that means a no-go on the ruffles. Yes, even if you think type 4s are masculine and you've always wanted to be seen as a gentle type 2. Just try it for a day. Style your hair in a way that matches your personality, wear colors and lines and makeup that match it, and fashion be danged.
(Male readers, tune back in)
But I think actually the neat thing about thinking about this stuff (let's not kid ourselves that Dress Your Truth is the only personality inventory out there) is that it helps you accept other people and yourself and refrain from putting negative labels on what God has created. For instance, perhaps you're not "lazy", you're a type 2 and easily feel overwhelmed. Instead of viewing that aspect of yourself as a flaw, accept it and work with it--know that you need a plan and you need to discipline yourself to work at things in manageable chunks. I, as a type 4, was relieved to realize that I'm not anti-social, I just don't need as much change and interaction as my type 1 friends. In fact, change and social interaction are stressors for me (even when I enjoy them), while type 1s might find it relaxing.
What Dress Your Truth has done I think is force people to be themselves in their wardrobe, which is powerful because things always work better if they are allowed to be the way God made them. Telling the truth is always better than lying even with unimportant things like clothes.
So don't pay for their silly online course and don't throw out all your clothes, but feel good about wearing what expresses YOU instead of whatever happens to be "in" at the time. Or feel good about your work patterns, or your parenting style. Like body shape, there are some things you can't change very much about yourself, so you might as well decide to like it.
Cheers,
Breanna
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