“Stand up and pretend you’re a tree…feel your roots sinking 150 feet down into the ground..start swaying in the breeze…”

“Let’s all make the sound of a foghorn together, but make your foghorn sound like it’s coming from far, far, away.”

“Everyone get into your en garde position and aim the tip of your sword right at your partner’s heart.”

This is how I spent my weekend. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?

It was just one piece of a fabulous seminar I attended about personal storytelling.

On Saturday morning, I was one of 27 speakers who sat mesmerized while listening to the wisdom and stories of Jean-Louis Rodrigue, one of the foremost instructors of The Alexander Technique and a man who has dedicated his life to studying the movement of people and animals.

He explained how he worked with Leonardo DiCaprio to channel a hawk’s eyes for his role as J. Edgar Hoover in an upcoming film and how he helped Bo Eason incorporate the movement of gorillas into his portrayal of a football player in his Broadway play, Runt of the Litter.

And Jean-Louis pointed out something about animals that really took hold with me.

He said: Animals are authentically themselves all the time. And every animal is beautiful and gorgeous.

How true! How true!

A panther’s not trying to act like another panther and he’s not trying to be a lion. A panther’s just him. A panther.

And I thought: I wonder if it’s easier for animals because they don’t wear clothes.

It’s so easy to hide behind our clothes and use them to massage and manipulate the image of ourselves we want other people to respond to.

If I dress sexy then men will think I’m sexy, we say to ourselves.

If I dress professional then people will know I’m professional, we think.

But here’s the thing:

YOU CAN’T HIDE THE TRUTH OF WHO YOU ARE WITH YOUR CLOTHES!

It never, EVER works. At least not for long.

If you can’t look at your own naked body in a mirror and love every inch of it then there’s no dress on the planet that will make you sexy.

If you don’t put in the hours, deliver results and treat your co-workers with respect then there isn’t a designer suit in the world that will earn you a promotion.

One way to remind yourself of this is to dress in something nude.

And if you feel vulnerable and exposed just thinking about wearing a nude dress, ask yourself why? Is it perhaps because, unlike animals, you’re not yet comfortable in your own skin?

Today’s VPOD, a vintage 1950s lace party dress, plays with nude shades in a very pretty and feminine way.

It’s a lovely find for a Vintage Crusader!

Available at Midnight Mart.

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