definition

sacred unconventional, originally uploaded by thewholeself.

For the last week or so I've been reading and working my way through the exercises in Style Statement. It's one of the most appealing and ground breaking books I've read in a long time. It's a simple but powerful premise.

The idea is that, after answering the questions in the book you'll have a list of words that could be used to define your own Style Statement and from which you'll select your final two. It's based on the 80:20 principle. The first word relates to your essential self. It's your foundation and your core. The word that describes the remaining 20% is all about your creative edge. How you express yourself and stand out. It symbolises your wings. Once you have your two words they're like your own personal brand. You can use the words as a guide when making choices, even as every day as buying clothes or furniture for your house. Using them as a guiding light helps you choose things or make decisions that are most aligned to who you really are. I love the simplicity of the idea. Two words. But so far reaching. And, for me, another tool in my connecting soul and creativity kit bag.

My first word, Sacred, was an obvious choice as it just resonated with me. I had a few options for the second word and thought about them for a while. Then one day the word insolite popped in my head. It's a French word and I don't know where it came from. This led me to Unconventional.

Extracted from Style Statement and the description of Sacred:

Sacred is philosophically and theologically curious, perpetually searching for or creating meaning. They are habitually reflective, looking for divine synchronicities and lessons in everything. Advisers, mavens and teachers, they reliably appear at the scene of life's big passages and events to bring grace and wit. Sacred nourishes itself by retreating and takes great solace in privacy and solitude, ritual and unbounded time. With spiritual communion as their core inspiration, Sacred is built to live in service to the whole and longs to do so through their own creative outlets.

Words associated with Unconventional:

avant-garde, eccentric, idiosyncratic, individual, informal, irreverent, nonconformist, off the beaten track, original, out in left field, out of the ordinary, quirky, uncommon, unique, unorthodox, unusual

What I like about the Style Statement is that the two words don't have to be linked. They can be, in some cases, opposites or contradictory. Because we're not just one thing or the other. We're a blend and sometimes that blend is a whole mix of things!