In Memory of Donna-Thank You

Posted on by Brook Thornley

I wish I had the perfect words to properly express my feelings after seeing all of the care and concern that was shown with the passing of my mother Donna. Appreciation, love, awe for just how good people really are just don’t seem to hit right on the enormous gratitude that I feel. I read every word of the comments posted throughout the week. I actually read them several times through. With each of your posts came an attached memory or memories.  It seemed to give me a little more strength every time I read them.

The sheer goodness of humans was implanted in the literally thousands of comments collectively over the week. One thing that stood out to me is how our tag line “everyone is a masterpiece” would be illuminated in every comment.” I can’t quite explain it because it’s not like it was directly said each time but I loved the comments where with all of the love and support that was sent was also a gentle little “I learned this about myself.” That was so important to me and what this life-long journey in my family has been about. It was a dedication of sorts not only to Donna but the work and program that still lives on even with her passing.

Thank you for that. I could wake up every morning seeing a post of a word or statement that illuminates your uniqueness. So many good people have asked “what can I do, what can I do for your family. In my view I would have to say do that same thing everyday.  Wake up and say, “I know this about me, and I love that about myself.”

I thank you once again for the love and caring. I love and respect who you are.

Everyone truly is a masterpiece.

Brook

Forward

Posted on by Brook Thornley

Yes, I spelled “foreword” in my book forward.

Let me explain.

For starters I concede that the appropriate spelling is "foreword" when used in a book. If you Google "how to spell foreword for a book” it tells you that many people misspell foreword. It is before the word and is usually written by someone other than the author.

Here are my thoughts on why we did it differently:

1.  When we wrote the book we really saw it more as a manual. One for the individual to navigate life in their own attractiveness. A “how-to” of sorts; but the “how-to” is how to be me in this big world where the individual is the author of it. Therefore the forward is my thoughts to the author of life "you."

2.  I really do want you to move forward, and my hope is that learning about your authentic self will move you forward. When Rod and I meet with people there are a large number of them that dispute how beautiful I see them; they are stuck because they just can’t quite see it for themselves. Our message—whether you read it in our book, view it on the website, or attend a live class—is still the same. Everyone is a masterpiece and it is time to move forward in that.

So read it again (the text is below). This is truly how I see the world. Put yourself in that lane and move forward in your authentic way.

Everyone is a masterpiece.

Brook

 

 

Human Art: Understanding Your Own Personal Design by Brook and Rod Thornley, “Forward”, pg. 7

“As I walk through a museum of fine art, I enter each room anticipating the beauty I know I’ll encounter there. I feel a tingle of excitement. Which piece of art will I love? Which will I appreciate? Will I see some that I won’t understand? As I am strolling by each piece, I realize that the great thing about art is that it’s a personal experience. People choose the pieces that speak to them on an emotional level. I wonder what piece, in each room I enter, will speak to me. When I find it, I know the lines and color of the piece will communicate what I need emotionally. My response will resonate deep inside me.

For some reason we have forgotten to look at each human being in this same way. People are masterpieces that we come upon or experience in life as if we are entering their space in a museum. They touch us on an emotional level. The lines and colors in their bodies—their unique compositions—communicate to us. Have we forgotten to look at them with the same open eyes that we have when we pass through the doors of an art museum? Do we feel the anticipation of finding that connection deep inside in response to each person’s own beauty? Or have we learned in some way to pass by and discount them in a search for that ultimate personification of “beauty”—as if all humans were pieces in an exhibit, but only one truly great piece of art existed? We need to open our eyes to see the art and beauty in every human being. We are each truly unique, a masterpiece. We are all imprints of many frequencies, and we leave that emotional imprint of our beauty wherever we go. No one will ever experience anything just like us again.

When I see someone new, perhaps I’ll love and appreciate her beauty. Or maybe I just won’t understand it. I am not alone. Most of us don’t understand the beauty we find in others. We don’t recognize the masterpieces we encounter each day. We lack the information, skills or rules to interpret them. We don’t know their “equations.” Just as solving math or chemistry problems is impossible without understanding the rules, in art—especially Human Art—we as a society have reached a point of discounting what we can’t comprehend merely because we lack the tools and rules to do so.

I love walking through the “exhibit” of life! I relish observing this beautiful world and these intriguing pieces of art—humans—that I encounter daily. Using the “rules,” or the science of color and line, I am able to grasp people’s beauty in a way that extends far beyond the physical surface. My experience of your beauty starts the moment I first get a glimpse of you. Your communication, the lines in your nose, the way you walk, the way you talk, the way you process your information, are all pieces of the equation, and I start summing them up, emotionally. Without fail, each time I say, “Yes, this is the piece for me!” You touch me at that level because, unlike a painting or a piece of pottery, you are alive, and you use your “equation”—your beauty, talents and strengths—to act and interact with me. I’ve yet to find the sculpture that can do that. Understanding the right rules and using the right tools to unlock the mystery of human composition has enabled me to stand back in reverential, open-mouthed awe as I contemplate the greatest beauty of all: you.”

Understanding a Sense of Self Injury

Posted on by Brook Thornley

A client came in to Human Art the other day and expressed that she was struggling to make some big decisions in her life. Rod, our clinician, asked her if she thought she might be experiencing a “sense of self injury”. She replied, “how could I have an injury to my sense of self if I don’t even have one?” I have been thinking a lot about that conversation. If we don’t know who we are isn’t that an injury in and of itself? Thinking about our sense of self causes us to pause and examine our authenticity. That person we were when we were born. 

I love watching toddlers because they seem to be functioning at all times in their authenticity. They could be in a diaper with their tummy sticking out, their hair could be tousled, and food or drool dripping down the front of them and you can tell in their mind they are the most amazing human ever. They don’t seem to even consider that something could remotely be wrong with them. It is brilliant. I love to watch them move around the room from toy to toy, completely free to be who they are.

Then as we grow life throws some things at us. Not all of them are positive. That is the beginnings of a “sense of self injury”. When we experience criticism or rejection for using one of our authentic traits in the best way we know how, we run the risk of rejecting that trait ourselves (because it did not serve us in that moment, so we think). In our head we seem to declare that we will never do that again. But the way we are made up in this human experience it’s like our soul will not let us be without a trait, so we create one in its place. For example if someone was being kind and others were mobbing them and making fun of them for being kind, they might reject that trait. In their head it might sound like, “well I am not going to be kind again.” They then consider a new trait to replace it. “I will be rude instead, then no one can hurt me.” That is what is referred to as a manufactured self. It is not who we truly are. As we go along in life, the more we reject who we are and try and replace it with a manufactured trait the more we run the risk of divorcing our authenticity all together. That is an egoic self.

So it boils down to asking ourselves: are we a version of our authenticity, or are we a version of a manufactured self? Spend some time on your relationship with yourself. We all have one. It manifests through our self talk. Are we striving to be authentic or are we in a constant state of projection? These are important questions to ask ourself.

Learning who we are and how we are made up becomes what we hold on to and determines what we value in life. At Human Art: The Original Personality Test, we work tirelessly to help one to find their authenticity. We teach people how to define it, to use it, to celebrate it and to love it.

Remember, at Human Art: The Original Personality Test, everyone is a masterpiece.

Combat Negativity: Become Your Own News

Posted on by Brook Thornley

Did you check the news today?

It seems as if the world has quite a bit going on. It used to be when I looked to the news for current events there was an unusually traumatic event every once in a while followed by a stream of interest stories and then your occasional good deed done by some type of hero (those are my favorite ones). More recently it seems as the traumatic events or negative interactions might be the focus of what is going on. It causes us to pause and evaluate. Is that the current state of the world? Is getting more sinister or are we surrounded with negativity? Are we just not focusing on the good deeds?

I don’t have the answer to those questions, but I do know this. I was asked once what would be the one thing that you would focus on that could combat negative and traumatic actions in human behavior. I knew my answer immediately. Like it was sitting waiting in my brain for someone to ask me this question it popped out that fast. I don’t even know if there was a pause between the question asked and my answer.

“It is self-love and self-value.”

You have to find love for yourself and value yourself before you can anyone else. The degree to which you love and value yourself is the same degree you will love and value others. For example, if you find yourself devaluing others maybe through criticism that is information about how much you value yourself or a look into how you see yourself. You probably see yourself through critical eyes and tend to be critical or use harsh self talk. If you find it hard to trust others, there is a great possibility you don’t have the self value to trust yourself. On the other hand, if you have a reasonable amount of self love and self value you might find yourself interacting with others in that same way frequently.

So how do we shine the light on these kinds of interactions in our world? We simply become our own news. The current event is your personal story. It is that story where you work to find love and value in yourself. The place wherein you are your own investigative reporter and all that you can find are good deeds, interesting current events, and acts of kindness. That type of value and self love that translates into efficacy and you soon start to see yourself showing up in your life as the hero. Yes there will be the occasional negative story but you will have so much more in your emotional tool kit to combat that negativity.

At Human Art: The Original Personality Test the story is you. You are the hero being interviewed. Work hard to find your worth and value. If you are lucky and it is intact, then work to make it stronger. I think the effects that we can have on this planet could be profound. Look to your central focus* and your correlating can-be* to strengthen your understanding of yourself. In the end those are the stories that we really care about. Never forget, everyone is a masterpiece.

 

*to learn more become a member of the Human Art Classroom and view a video all about the central focus and can-be’s of each design.

Color Trends: Moving from Winter to Spring

Posted on by Brook Thornley

Sitting at my desk this morning I was receiving alerts about color trends from companies I work with that predict upcoming fashion trends. I love the theme or feeling they have all communicated this year for moving from winter trends into spring and summer trends.

One thing that is important to understand is these companies carefully think about color and how color trends affect or influence what is going on in the world socially. Some even take a broader view like politics or current events and how they are impacting us in our daily lives and then attempt to balance that theme with colors they select. A lot of thought and psychology goes into it.

As I read each one of these reports they all seemed, to some degree, to touch on how this winter had its fair share of heaviness, even amongst the light moments. Examples might be the constant flood of wars threatening…Shootings…Grief of any kind. So in order to impact us in an effort to balance things out the colors that are being used moving forward have a lightness to them. The thing they all have in common is a peacefulness that runs through your sub-conscious mind and floods your body when you are exposed to them. They bring a lightness that has the ability to balance that heaviness out. Sometimes we are not even aware of what it’s doing for us, other than we are drawn to the color and love how it makes us feel.

When thinking of trends it is important to bring in good colors for that particular time and it is equally important to put them together in great combinations. Here are some to consider:

Sky Blue with a Quiet Gray

 

The color blue represents the intangible—free movement and free thinking. It promotes positive introspection that leads to inspiring thoughts. It can’t be controlled. It has its own system of finding order and it works. Trying to control blue is like trying to fence in the ocean; you can try but it won’t last.

With the blue you add a calming or quiet grey. This can be matte or metallic: matte if you want it more Grayed or Blackened and metallic if you want it Whitened or Saturated. The grey quiets things down. It promotes security in oneself. It’s a confidence that cannot be molded as much as it just authentically exists. It’s like quick silver. The more you try and squeeze it in your hands, the more it drips through your fingers. But if you let it just be, carefully holding it still in the palm of your hand, it stays as it is in a mass that doesn’t change at all.

My suggestion is to make the majority of the outfit in the greys and add the blue as an accent. Bring in small amounts of another color in socks or makeup, or even a tie or scarf.

Quiet Brown or Taupe with a Small Hint of Red (but make the hint count)

                              

       

The brown represents the core. The core of anything. It is the place or person we all come back to because it makes us feel grounded. It’s like a wise old medicine man. It is not forceful or dominating. He has so much to offer as far as wisdom, support, and emotional insights but he doesn’t go around selling anything. He patiently waits for you to seek him out, then gives you all he has to offer as far as support and security. This is the feeling brown gives us.

Red is passion and physical activity. It tend to get things moving and gets us moving and can’t help but extract our true talents with all that passion it brings when we see it. When you add small doses of red it bring bursts of inspiration and movement, moving things forward in small steps that have big and substantial results and effects.

Some of the best ways to marry the red with the brown is with lipstick, fingernail polish, socks, ties, jewelry or backpacks or bags.

Accent Must Haves

Anything mustard. But with a zest or spice added. So think of how you like your mustard when adding it to a dish. Are you a plain mustard person? Use that color. Do you like jalapeño mustard? Use that color. Maybe you are a horseradish person. Then wear that color as an accent. Just depends on how spicy you are feeling that day. Match it to your accessories.

                               
 

Another important accent color is a clay color. Think of when you buy pottery; the richer the pottery you like, the richer the colors you will select.  Remember, we want them light feeling. So when you pick them, pick them in more neutral colors for the Grayed design, rich and light for Blackened, light and clear for Whitened, and bright but light for Saturated. Go look at a pottery display or exhibit and look at the variety of colors. This light clay accent is fabulous for shoes, boots, saddles, jackets, sweaters, and is even great for lipstick. Bracelets—men’s or women’s—are a great way to bring this color on. Be adventurous and wear a clay colored watch or ring.

                               

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Have fun with this! You do not need to change your entire wardrobe, but add a few pieces in these colors and it will update the basics that you already have in your closet and help move you forward this spring. Wear what feels good to you. Remember, if you love it when you see it then it is probably your design.

And, as always, remember everyone is a masterpiece.