Think about the world as it is today. About how you are living in it, among everybody else living in it alongside you. How are YOU showing up in the world?
Think about how you feel when you wake up in the morning. Think about how you feel when you go to bed at night. Think about how you feel a midst everything in between.
Do you feel as though you are living your most thoughtful and intentional life? Do you think most others feel that way?
And where does that leave us in this world we’re all living in?
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My passion lies in the world of fashion and style. When I was little, my Mom would dress me up in the cutest, most adorable pink and purple dresses for Easter. You know the ones! I loved every minute of it, and I was blessed to be her little show off. Being in those dresses made me feel like a beautiful princess. Even at that young age, being dressed so adoringly, I felt like I could conquer the world.
In my world of styling, I practice and teach three core elements key to incorporating into each and every outfit put together. Without even one of these elements thoughtfully and intentionally incorporated, the outfit isn’t exuding its fullest potential.
Sure, it could look alright, maybe even look good. But why stop at good, when you can have exceptional? Don’t you feel better walking out the door in the morning when you’re wearing an exceptional outfit vs. wearing an only alright one?
Balance. Pop. And Purpose.
From my professional stylist perspective, these are the three key elements that make an outfit exceptional—an outfit created with thought and intent.
Balance.
Your overall look. Is your outfit as a whole balanced and aesthetically pleasing to the eye?
Pop.
The piece you incorporate into your outfit that creates interest, makes you stand out, is memorable.
Purpose.
Whatever you decide to wear, and however you decide to wear it, it is done for a reason, intentionally, with purpose.
The Styling side of Balance, Pop and Purpose not only applies to the outfits we put together/ our LOOK. But think about it. What if we were just as thoughtful and intentional about incorporating these three elements into our own lives?
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That little girl in the beautiful dresses, ready to take on the world, exuded all three of these things without even knowing it:
Balance – Played with barbies and played outside on the swings . Went to school to learn and interact with her little friends. Loved spending time with her family.
Pop – Well, the dresses of course 😉 But also the laughter, the imagination, the dreams. All of the color in her world disrupted by nothing. Happiness.
Purpose – Her purpose was to just be a happy little girl.
Until those things WEREN’T anymore…
Why did that feeling, princess ready to take on the world, slip away as I well, ‘grew up’? Life seemed so simple then, but it sure didn’t stay that way. Things got tougher as I aged through each and every year.
My teenage years were hard, for a lot of different reasons. Hormones of course, my parents’ divorce, body image struggle—Mostly the feeling of not being good enough seemed to take over.
Thinking back, I may have had the balance part down, sort of. Academics, sports, friends…
But I had no idea what my Pop was, or if I even wanted it. The idea of ‘standing out’ when there was so much judgement and criticism among my peers didn’t exactly sound like something I needed at that point…
My purpose, subconsciously then, was to be as perfect as I possibly could, because I thought my perfection might make everything (and everyone) in my life okay.
And then looking back at my college years, where balance was super important—work hard, play hard was the mentality. Late nights at the library, cramming for final exams, balanced with the fun and excitement of the college life—football Saturdays, the parties, new friends, new guys.
I continued to grow into myself and discover who I was as a woman, and without even knowing it, began to exude my very own Pop—compassionate heart, positive perspective, vibrant energy, so easily felt by others with a simple glimpse of my smile.
In regards to Purpose, aside from earning a decent GPA, I think college was a 4-year search for what my purpose would become outside of the college-town bubble I got so comfortable in.
And all of a sudden I was given a big shove out into the real world. Excited, but also simply hopeful I would be… alright. I got the job, I did well. I formed new relationships. I got promoted. I moved into my own apartment for the very first time.
This last decade of my life I feel like I had Balance pretty well figured out. Good jobs, paycheck, successfully living on my own, friends, family —along with concerts, new friends, a variety of men. Passion. Pleasure.
My Pop had evolved into more of a knowingness of the kind of woman I had become. But was that it?
And I certainly didn’t feel any sort of meaningful Purpose through it all.
I went on living year after year, staying pretty Balanced and stepping more into my Pop, (without really knowing what that meant), trying to make something ‘good’ out of this life of mine.
Until I got to a point when good wasn’t good enough anymore. Simply ‘being alright’ was no longer acceptable to me. Why, for all those years was I trying to make something ‘good’ out of my life, when I could be making something exceptional out if it instead? This was the moment I decided I needed to get intentional about what my Purpose was, so that I could finally adorn this exceptional ‘outfit’ that is my life.
I HAVE discovered how to truly live my life with Purpose. I AM being intentional in my work in order to empower women to show up the way they truly want to show up.
Putting together a thoughtful balance pop purpose outfit is just the beginning. I demand we go further. I am determined to make sure each person I work with walks away feeling that exceptional feeling—the feeling that I felt as a little girl in my beautiful Easter dresses—the feeling I have now, as I finally acknowledged my ability to step fully into MY OWN balance pop and purpose—the feeling that she can change the world.
Each and every one of us has the opportunity to be exceptional.
Be thoughtful. Be intentional. Find true balance. It is ever so important. Exude your pop to the fullest, whatever that amazing thing is about you that makes you stand out like no other. And get clear on what you want your purpose to be. With every action, what is your purposeful intent?
Let us all put on our own exceptional outfits. Because in them, not only will we feel like we can change the world, we’ll already be doing it.
