Authenticity

Authenticity, especially in relation to acceptance and approval, is a topic that has been popping up lately. David and I had an interesting discussion about it last night so I’ll share some thoughts I had.

This quote is what initially grabbed me:

It reminds me of the feelings I have about identity, especially unwanted identities. As I wrote about in my Identity blog post, I am not interested in wearing the patient/victim/“poor me, give me pity” identity that comes with such extensive and numerous surgeries and recoveries. To do so would be completely inauthentic for me.

Instead, I choose to say how I feel about things, live in my own identity that is true, and be “the outlier”.

I subscribe to this definition of authenticity wholeheartedly. It is not always easy to choose to be authentic, but the rewards are worth it. Authenticity is based on integrity. Any other choice is based on seeking approval or acceptance, opinions of others, completely opposite of authenticity.

Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we’re supposed to be and embracing who we are.

– Brené Brown

LeBron

David spoke about authenticity in relation to the new Space Jam movie that he saw the day prior. He remarked at how authentic LeBron James and his family were in the film. Not overacted or contrived characters for the story, but truly genuine. And that that’s the case for LeBron over his whole career. Dude is consistently authentic in every way.

Ralph

Have you ever seen memes made of this guy?

Maybe you’ve giggled at his expense? This is Ralph. No joke, we went to high school together. He played the trombone and drove a classic pink Cadillac. Here’s his senior picture from my yearbook.

At a boarding school for the arts, where almost everyone was uniquely unique, his authenticity was unwavering and awesome. He was always himself, consistently, FOR himself, regardless of what others thought. He had an excellent circle of friends because they liked his authentic self. No fakery. Anyone that didn’t like him or appreciate his authenticity simply weren’t his people.

May we all be more like Ralph.

Seth

Seth Godin has some poignant blog posts regarding authenticity. I recommend these:

This one.
This one.
And this one.

Authenticity = Integrity

For me it boils down to integrity. When I am authentic, I am living in my integrity – for myself, AND for whoever I am presenting myself to. I owe it to myself to be truly me, AND I owe it to them to present my honest, true self. Saying or doing things for the sake of approval or acceptance is not really honest, and therefore, not authentic.

Authenticity and seeking approval/acceptance as concepts feel like opposites to me. The moment you add a tiny bit of seeking approval or acceptance, authenticity is lost. And the same in reverse.

Maybe, like this tattered flag I came upon one day while on a photo shoot at a salvage yard, we feel like our authentic selves isn’t good enough? Guess what, this is EXACTLY what makes you good enough! No one is you-er than you, so embrace the uniqueness as your authenticity and shine, threadbare and all!

Maybe if we are authentic for long enough, consistently, we can be labeled “classic”, like this car:

What are your thoughts on authenticity? How do you feel about your own level of authenticity? What things hold you back from living your most authentic life and what can you do to change them?

If you have landed on this page from an external link, please go HERE to read from the beginning. Otherwise, click on the next title below to continue.