An Access Point to Authenticity
at Coney Island. Horizon Perfekt, xpro Lomo 200 film.
When the authenticity conversation first came our way, many of us were raising our hands and murmuring, amen. Our trusty bullshit meters promptly sounded whenever someone was posing or hiding something, and we hated that. "Don't be a fake" could have been an early slogan, or "Give it to me straight." Hell yeah, authenTIcity, man.
At first, we want to be given something real or true. But the conversation doesn't have to sit with us for long before we inevitably turn the lens on ourselves. We want to be authentic--we don't want to be a faker or a poser or someone who ever sets off the bullshit meters of others. We want to know who we really are, we want to give ourselves permission to be that Real Person in the world, but this is the very point on which we so often get stuck:
Which one is the real me? Is it my private self or my public persona? Is it the way I am with my parents, or is it the way I am with my partner? Is it only the way I am when I'm alone? Is it the self I was 5 years ago, or the self I am today? Or what about the self I'm aspiring to become--doesn't she count for something?
We are a bag of endlessly differentiated parts.
We are complex. We live in a modern cafeteria of contexts, with modern technology gradually erasing the physical divides between work space and home space, between personal time and professional time. Instead of switching hats throughout the day, we're more likely to stack them on our heads all at once.
Many of us share the desire for authenticity, but we haven't always been given a lot of access points into it. There aren't a lot of clear roadmaps for how to take each part and to understand and experience how it relates to all the other parts. How they all belong. How they can ever form something even resembling an authentic sense of self.
This is where the integration conversation comes in. It addresses what to do with the bag of parts. It leads us into a place where the parts become a whole. And from that place, we can experience a revelation in what it means to be true.
Click through for updated details about the Integrate in the Rockies Retreat this fall.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010 at 7:11AM | Share Article 5 Comments | Email Article Print Article | Permalink | in Integrate, authenticity, be true
Reader Comments (5)
Wow. This is exactly the same question I had for myself the other day -while showering. With so many aspects of myself, which part of me will hold the pen (or type the words) when telling my story, or sharing on my blog, or through my photos. And how can all of me, the whole of me - truly be seen?
Lot's to ponder. Good thing I just picked up a new notebook for my purse.
-ps. i did try to contact you a couple of weeks back through this site - will try again.
I am super excited I have made the commitment to be part of this conversation. After some extremely warm temps we are enjoying a cool morning and I able to think more clearly.
mmm! this sounds so lovely. you're doing am amazing job piecing things together--for yourself and the rest of us. can't wait til i have the funds to make it to one of your retreats :)
jen, i am hoping you and phyllis do another one in bklyn together too -- i would love to go to one with both of you (i've only spoken with phyllis once but she so resonated with me -- she was the bomb!) so the two of you together? double bomb!
I adore this image Jen!!! As a young girl this game was my absolute favorite thing at a fair or amusement park!
I would Love to buy a print!!
Just having your truth or authenticity as your foremost intention charts your path, sets our sails in the direction of our very own winds.
How I wish I could join all of your in the Rockies;,but this years travels are set until the New Year.
Sending warm sunlight,a Eucalyptus canopy to play in and much love from the Mojave Desert