One Client’s Color Journey
contributed by Maggie Oman Shannon
“An Illuminated Spring”
Photo Credit In Her Image Photography
In Four Quartets, T.S. Eliot gave us the marvelous lines “We shall not cease from exploration/ and the end of all our exploring/will be to arrive where we started/ and know the place for the first time.” As a spiritual seeker since the age of 15 (who later became a spiritual director and congregational minister), as an author, and as an artist, I have found these words a wonderful mantra for life.
I have always had guides to inspire me at each new step in my explorations, which thankfully has been a long (I’m now 63) and sometimes circuitous journey. But no matter the twists along the way, I have always felt led by a Divine Intelligence…and I have paid close attention to all the “breadcrumbs” I found on my path, no matter how surprising, particularly if they captivated me in some way and piqued my curiosity to learn more.
I discovered one of those breadcrumbs twelve years ago, in 2010—the year I became the minister of a church—when I first encountered the phrase “Dressing Your Truth” and it really captured my imagination. I began to wonder if such a thing really was possible—and if it was, I wanted to know what my “truth” was, particularly because I was now standing in front of people every Sunday morning and wanted to present myself in the most congruent, effective way so that my message was clear. I wanted to dress my truth!
As with all searches for deeper truth about ourselves, the road to “dressing my truth” was not straightforward. In that first system, I learned the theory that all people could be classified in one of four numeric (1, 2, 3 and 4) Types—a theory which actually harkens back to the Greek physician Hippocrates, who believed that people could be divided into four temperaments (Sanguine, Phlegmatic, Choleric, and Melancholic) or “humors.” This line of study fascinated me, and still does, and learning it seemed like it could be helpful in my ministry.
I was classified by an analyst in that system as a Type 2—the “soft and subtle” personality who would wear grayed and muted colors in flowing fabrics to mirror that kind of personality. (In that system, each Type has different colors and styles that are prescribed to dress one’s “truth.”) I could see that for some the impact of wearing the right colors and styles was transformational to their look—but my own experience was not the same. In fact, a couple of women in my church wanted to buy me clothes because they didn’t feel I looked good in my “Type 2” wardrobe! So then the quest began in earnest, and I spent the next several years searching out and studying different color, personality, and energy systems to learn more. I believed that there was something to this concept; I had seen what a difference it could make physically in others.
In my research, I also learned that the idea that certain colors and styles could reflect one’s inner essence was first championed in America by Suzanne Caygill in 1942. She would create color palettes for her clients based on their “season”—the four seasons of nature (the number four again, the same number of “types” and “temperaments”). Learning all this was an intriguing hobby and one that led me to many different color systems and, even within each of these systems, to many different approaches and beliefs.
During the search, I saw that many people (most especially my husband) questioned the whole point of it. I understood because I questioned it myself, many, many times along the way. And yet at my core there was something tugging at me…for some reason I couldn’t just walk away from this study. I began to see this as a spiritual quest; it wasn’t just about the colors or the clothing, it was about discovering how to express my truth, the truth of who I am, so that the inner me and the outer me were fully aligned.
Over these continuing years of exploration, the journey became expensive and confusing. Different color analysts, who I saw along the way—prompted by my personal lack of obvious physical transformation—came up with different answers, which often competed significantly with each other. Analysts had placed me in three different color seasons—Spring, Summer and Winter. And because I had started this journey looking for the “truth,” that became the lantern in the darkness—there must be a “truth” for me too, right? “A” truth, not three!
I have great empathy for others who may have also traveled this path with varying results or outright misses. I had just about concluded that I should abandon all of this; that maybe this stuff worked for some women, but not for me. I figured if people had assigned me with such varying color palettes, then it didn’t really matter what I wore—because I was bound to put on something that somebody somewhere thought was right for me! I pretty much had given up on the whole thing.
But there was another twist in the road: In 2020, as we were all sheltering-in-place, a woman that I had known for years in the active online communities focused on studying these color systems showed the results of her most recent color analysis—and it was so right for her, both the colors and the vibe, the “essence,” that I marveled that none of us had seen it sooner! Then another woman showed us her results…and again, the colors enhanced her so beautifully that I was intrigued—could I possibly open up my mind, heart and pocketbook to yet another color analysis by the woman who had done those two?
I will always be so grateful that my inner guidance said yes. Because the color analysis I received from Joan Kosmachuk—yes, it will be my last one!—touched not only my soul, but was also the first one in which I could really see the difference that the colors made when held up to my face.
And what beautiful colors to claim for myself—a holly-berry red, a malachite green, a regatta blue, deep turquoise—all colors that I had never received on a palette before!
“Illuminated Spring”
Joan named my palette “Illuminated Spring” and explained that in her analysis she had started with the Summer colors (the ones the church ladies wanted to replace!) since that had been the category in which so many previous consultants had placed me, but that she felt I just seemed to “disappear” in those colors. When she tried some of the brighter colors named above, she said she could see me, the true me!
I have heard a couple of analysts say that we are attracted to the colors we are not…that part of grasping our “truth” means to accept who we are, even if we don’t initially like the colors that best represent us. All I know is, after an educated decade-long journey into the world of color analysis, energy & essence systems, and style archetypes, I feel more alive now and more myself than ever before. Interestingly, and unexpectedly, stepping into these vibrant colors has reignited my decades-long passion for Mexican and other cultural folk art—and now I can even see bringing that passion into my life as a vocational pursuit, not just as a collector! This truly has been an amazing journey of reclaiming all of who I am, not just who I thought I was or who I wanted to be, and I know the discoveries will continue. One of those discoveries has been around my authentic style—I am at home and look my best in casual, creative clothing; no wonder I never gravitated to more traditional or elegant garments!
I will always be so very grateful that I found Joan and have been able to work with her—she truly has an intuitive gift and discerning eye, and in my case it has been life-changing. Yes, my “color journey” is over—but in many ways, my exploration of my true colors and authentic style is just beginning. I know that for some, this kind of journey may never matter—but for me and others, it has been a Divine invitation that kept calling to be answered. Which brings me back to those words from T.S. Eliot: “the end of all our exploring/will be to arrive where we started/ and know the place for the first time.”
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