The Power of Authenticity
"Be authentic!"
How many times have you heard, or seen, that phrase this week? This the first? Or the 100th? And in those times, how many of them have actually sparked a deeper level of embodiment within you? Probably none, right?Feels like that phrase is thrown around all over the place - but it never really sticks. Why? Because true authenticity asks us to risk something to remain to true to another thing - but what is it that we're remaining true to? Truth is, you ARE being authentic to something right now. But is it the thing you want to be authentic to?In order to be fully authentic, first we have to figure out the Self that we're being authentic to. SO!Grab a journal and free write using the prompt below:
+ Who is the truest me?+ When am I the truest me?+ When do I shy away from the truest me?+ What are the benefits of NOT being the truest me?+ What are the benefits of BEING the truest me?
For our purposes - we're going to say that the truest authenticity is to the YOU that lives deep in your core. The you that lives outside of the boxes of people pleasing and story that you've adopted for comfort and ease.When we're authentically pledging ourselves to living from our core, our authentic expression will often be paired with a risk of criticism, a risk of the discomfort that comes in stepping outside a known box, it might involve boat rocking, all for the sake of letting go of who've we've been to please, and embody who we came to be and have always been.That's not always what we want to do on a Wednesday afternoon while eating our salad and vegan cookie, so, we hear or see the phrase, "be authentic," and maybe it inspires us to put on a bigger smile. Or wear a bolder print shirt the next day. Or say a wittier thing in our next meeting. But we're still reserved. Still tailoring ourselves to fit the demands of the boxes around us, rather than expanding the boxes around us to hold the vast richness of who we are.Authenticity asks us to call on a power much deeper beneath the surface of thought - it asks us to call on our trust in a deep knowing that lives outside of reason, and that knowing is directly intertwined with the core purpose for our existence.Living from a place of authenticity, then, is living from the place of the deepest power within us - the power that literally creates worlds, lives, and incredible change around it.In these times where so much pain is prevalent from inauthentic living, let us remember the true necessity of our most authentic lives - these individuals, in their bravery and authenticity, have literally changed the world. Just by breathing THEM into everything they do - they found success on a personal and an external level....
Dolly Parton - Think being authentic will make you sacrifice success? Think again. Dolly Parton has inspired the world with her authentic expression of who she is with every breath. She is no one but her, and success has innately followed.
Rosa Parks - A single woman's authentic expression - her commitment to the core of who she was - tidal waved and supported a movement of LIBERATION. Her own inner liberation was all that was needed to liberate an entire community.
Freddie Mercury - We can't even imagine a life without Bohemian Rhapsody - but Freddie was told it was too much. He was told it would never work. People didn't want that. He wasn't making music for other people, he was making music because it was what he had to do, and he refused to make music that wasn't from his core. Had he not listened, music would probably be real boring these days.
SO - in the smallest of moments, and the biggest of moments, what is the CORE you that you're going to remain fully and completely authentic to?You're ready to let go of seeking success - and instead, seek to be YOU, and know that only success will follow.Blue skies,Josh
