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 A new blog to contain answers to prompts |
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Since my old blog "Everyday Canvas " became overfilled, here's a new one. This new blog item will continue answering prompts, the same as the old one. Cool water cascading to low ground
To spread good will and hope all around.  |
| Prompt: What does it mean to be authentic? Write about this in your Blog entry today. ----------- The question for anyone to ask here, IMHO, is: "Was there ever a time I surprised or disappointed myself with my own behavior?" If the answer is yes, whether such stuff happened only once or it keeps happening, how can a person who surprises even himself or herself can be really 100% authentic? Most of us human beings work from who we think we are or who are expected to be. This may be because we only have a half-knowledge of ourselves. How could this imperfect knowledge of ourselves lead to perfect authenticity? On the other hand, authenticity is not about false knowledge of oneself or our adaptation to who we are expected to be. So, at times, to be really authentic is asking the impossible from oneself. Therefore, authenticity is not about perfection but about honesty. It means writing with our own voice, making choices that match our values, and acting and talking according to our true feelings and thoughts. Then, what about the fact that this world is full of expectations, putdowns, and comparisons? Doesn't this make authenticity very difficult? From early childhood on, we the people are trained and expected to fit in, to behave, to dress, to think, and even to dream in ways to gain approval. Over the years, who knows which parts of ourselves are real and which parts, in our subconscious, are shaped to please others and gain approval? Yet, impossible though it may seemingly be, authenticity has its own quiet power. Others sense people who tilt more toward to being themselves, on the more genuine part of the scale. In general, people who are more authentic have more courage as they do not try to impress. They try to be truthful. This is because they have finally begun to understand that living behind a mask is tiring and unnecessary. The freedom of being oneself is more valuable than approval from others. Still, I don't think anyone can be 100% authentic. I mean, who in the world can erase all the input into their psyches by their families, backgrounds, education, etc.? Anyhow, when we come right down to it, when and if we can align our inner self and our outer life, we become more authentic. Then, our thoughts, feelings, and actions match more often, and life begins to have a sense of harmony. We may not please others much, but we gain an internal peace from knowing that we are living truthfully. That is, as truthfully as we know how. |
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