Personality Typing Dilemma and How Human Art is Different

I was talking to a friend awhile back about a personality test she took at work. She told me it didn’t mean that much to her because it was relatively easy to pick the items which supported her outward image as a creative, competent, strong leader in the organization. I told her that I was working on some personality typing with the Human Art theory and she said, “You can have my test if you want,” and tossed it to me.

This experience got me thinking about the dilemma we face when we are asked to take a personality test online or at work. We are all eager to be validated for who we know we are, but it can be scary, at times, to answer questions which may present a side of ourselves which has been disapproved of in the past. We often feel the pressure to mirror what others like about us or what our work culture values.

This led me to think about what I like about the Human Art approach to understanding personality. I remember 25 years ago when Brook’s mother, Donna, was doing my personality reading. At first, I was skeptical because she started holding colors up to my face. It caught my attention when she held up a new growth green color to may face. I already loved the color but then she started to interpret it for me. She said it was like the color of grass under a rock that is determined to get over or around the rock and just doesn’t give up. This trait of perseverance was something that rang true to me and I liked about myself. It was true for me even though not many people had noticed it in me. It lifted me and gave me a little bit of confidence that day. It was powerful to me that someone could bring that forth even though they didn’t really know my history. It became an anchoring point for me to hold as a truth about my personality.

Since that time, I have been able to witness and participate in the Human Art personality discovery process with others. What I enjoy most is that the process does not require the recipient to say anything. When the colors are held up to your face, it is like perfect pitch in music. When your truth is interpreted for you in a strengths based environment, it is life changing.

Being “unique” is no longer a cliché because we can measure your authentic self and reveal the harmonies in nature that you most relate to. For example, I am Grayed and Blackened. With that combination my personality communicates a sensitive, no-nonsense kind of guy. I care about others feelings and want to protect, but at some point things need to get done.

After going through the process, many of our clients will say, “I will never apologize for being me again.” One of my colleagues who attended a workshop told me, “I thought I always wanted to be Blackened in high school but now I know that I am Saturated, and I can see my strengths more clearly.”

Human Art personality assessment is different from others because it helps us to stop comparing ourselves to others. It reveals how we can have opposing traits at the same time, such as being both introverted and extroverted, and in what order they manifest themselves. In relationship compatibility Human Art can help you to know how opposites attract rather than merely matching you on various items of compatibility.

It is fun to discover how you fit into the broader scheme of nature and how you relate to what is true in design. That is what Human Art can do for you.

 

~Rod

(Licensed Clinical Social Worker [LCSW])

“What Am I Best At?” Understanding Your Central Focus

A client recently asked me,” With my design, what am I the best at?”

Usually I get asked that in a different way. For example, “what job would I be the best at?” or, “what kind of spouse will I be?” When this client asked me so simply, “what am I good at?” I realized we ask ourselves that a lot. My answer is: you are best at being you. You are the master of that because you already know the rules.  We get in trouble when we look externally for the answer to that question or for our worth (that means we are comparing ourselves to someone else). If you find yourself doing that, you will fail. If you stay with your “great” or your “best” self you already know how to do that innately so you will have success.

It’s like ballet dancers in a dance class. Each dancer eventually becomes a graceful and talented dancer; they all just do it in their own way. As young dancers in class one might be very organized in her training with lots of lists to help her practice. Another girl might use her imagination to visualize the dream of being a prima ballerina to drive her to practice. Yet another is social and just can’t wait to get to class each time to see her friends. Years later you can find each one of them under the lights somewhere receiving cheers and a big bouquet of beautiful flowers. So the question should not be “what am I the best at?” the right question is, “how best do I tackle being something great?” (No matter what that “something” is).

 

It all boils down to your Central Focus.
Your central focus describes what is important to you to accomplish and in what way for any event or task.

 

If you are SATURATED……….. The central focus is quality. Whatever you deem to be quality is at the center of everything you do.

If you are WHITENED………. Your central focus is social and change. You need a lot of both things to stay involved in what you are doing.

If you are GRAYED………….  The details are so important. They become your central focus and you feel lost without them.

If you are BLACKENED………… You are the “get ‘er done” type of person. Just fix it!

The Door Fell Off
We often use the analogy of the door to help you figure it out. If you were in a room somewhere and the front door just suddenly fell off, what would your reaction be?

All the Saturated people would stand up and announce, “the door just fell off,” and would immediately take charge and start delegating.

All of the Whitened people would jump up and say, “Wow the door just fell off!” and call all their friends and tell them to come (and bring cupcakes) to see that the door fell off. (In other words, turn it into an opportunity to socialize and have fun).

The Grayed people would start processing the details. Something like, “the door fell off and it is late. We need to get something done about it because it’s almost dark, and oh yeah it might rain. I wonder if there is something wrong with the hinges…” and so on.

Finally, all the Blackened people would just get up and put the door back on.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Remember that we all have all four types of personality in us, so we may relate to each in some way. But we lead out with our dominant one and that is where we find our central focus.

The next time you are thinking of what you are best at, stay true to your authentic self, no matter what it is you are doing. That is what they really mean when people say “just be you.”

And always remember, no matter what you choose to do everyone is a masterpiece.

~Brook

Discover Your Own Attractiveness

My 5 year old niece got so excited the other day because someone super important to her was coming to visit her at her house. She dramatically announced that she wasn’t dressed for the occasion! She ran to her room and minutes later appeared in her new found beauty with a new outfit on and hair like she wanted it. In the excitement she started singing a song (which she often does. She seems to narrate her life out loud in song form), “First I was ugly and out was out…now I am pretty and in is in!!!”

As only a 5 year old can, she narrated how we judge ourselves so often. Male or female we all do it. It is amazing that we make it that simple. Only a five year old has the courage or innocence to just blurt it out, but we all sometimes inwardly believe it at times. Is it really that easy that, depending on how we feel about ourselves in that moment, we can be inadequate one minute and amazing the next; only seconds lies between being on the bottom and then on top of the world.

The truth lies in what we know about ourselves and how familiar we really are with our authentic self and our version of attractiveness.

Attractiveness is much deeper than our outfit or status. It is not external, it is internal. As my niece so profoundly stated, “in is in.”  Our personal attractiveness lies inside of us—our strengths and character traits.

For example, if I were to define my personal attractiveness it would be “nice.” I love being nice (I have moments, I promise, that look different, but my intention is to always be nice). Is nice ever not attractive? So you see our true attractiveness is based on our inner strengths. They never go away.

At Human Art we have four types of personalities or designs. Below are some traits that correlate with each one. Today find a few you relate to and hold on to them. Like magic you will feel “in is in” and on top of the world. If you find yourself in an “out is out” moment, hold on to those traits, or go back and find a few more that you relate to. See how it works. You will find you will quickly start appreciating your own personal design—your personal attractiveness and authentic self.

SATURATED
Precise
Clear thinker
Contemporary
In control
Quiet dignity
Still
Authoritative
Simple

WHITENED
Fun
Enrolling
Safe
Spontaneous
Fresh
Childlike

GRAYED
Soothing
Calm
Elegant
Meticulous
Connector
Refined

BLACKENED
Real
Warm
Task-oriented
Compartmentalizer
Sturdy
Exotic
Natural

Remember: your worth has already been defined. It is not negotiable. You just need to discover it in yourself. Everyone is a masterpiece.

 

We Are ALL Human Art

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’m 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 every 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.

-Brook