One topic that I have studied for over 20 years is authenticity. It can seem to be everywhere, once you start making note. Authenticity is used in discussions about our personal identities and “selves,” for self-help and self-care, ways of presenting oneself at work, authentic leadership, organizational authenticity, ways for making a budget, how to determine where to travel (and how to define your experiences), whether something is “real” or a fake, and beyond.
This is a topic that I’ll consistently revisit, as I remain fascinated by something that can be so influential, yet also hard to describe, and often is taken-for-granted (it comes back to the felt sense of “I’ll know it when I see it” – or taste it, etc). Meaning-making can be almost strictly based on whether or not we define something, including our own actions, as “authentic.” We may not always use the term, but we may talk about how we didn’t feel like we could be ourselves at a social gathering, or that a new restaurant is “trying too hard,” or even that something just doesn’t “feel right.”
There is philosophical and psychological advice on the importance of authenticity and building trust, just as there is consultation for how to build up an authentic brand.
What do you think about authenticity? Do you think there is a “true self” to be discovered and expressed? If we are trying too hard to make our brand authentic, then does it backfire? What makes a place (in)authentic?
I’ll circle back to these topics soon, but I also thought there was a little irony in the daily writing prompt by WordPress – a critical component of our current culture is figuring out your true self, which is typically based in discovering (or determining) your purpose. Life coaches now abound to help in this area, greatly expanding even past self-help and self-help “gurus.” It can end up creating a major sense of pressure to figure out who you “are,” as we are pressed that we are responsible for both our success and failures.
In considering authenticity, does it affect or change your response as to what is the legacy you want to leave behind? Does it feel like it relates back to the core “you,” or does it relate to something totally different?
Making-Meanings 