The Great Awakening: Embracing Authenticity

Are you being the you that you need to be for yourself today?

My hope and desire for us all is that we can live, exist, and walk in our truth. However, the truth is, most of us actually show only a portion of ourselves to the world. We live in a culture where authenticity is either being sold, bought, or glamorized to the point where it itself is not authentic. You think sex sells…baby, this “pseudo-transparency culture” has influencers making a spectacle of what it truly means to be authentic. No judgment here—I mean, get your coins—but in the words of my Congresswoman Cori Bush: “We are not for sale.”

When I say we, I mean those of us who are constantly working to pull back the layers and uncover the parts of us that matter the most. Those of us who struggle and fight tooth and nail to stay in alignment with our principles. I know myself to the extent that I have allowed myself to be revealed to me, but I know myself enough to know when I am being stretched beyond my capacity. I value honesty, accountability, grace, compassion, forgiveness, empathy, and restoration, but on some days, I struggle to uphold those principles. On some days, I want to lean into not giving a f*(k and not extending grace and understanding to my people because we are harming each other as a result of decades of us being harmed. But it fades, and I slowly ease back into those values.

I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge my own inner conflicts or the tensions that cause me to stretch daily. It’s not always love and light, although I am committed to the aperture in my soul that allows love and light to pass through me daily. At times, my outer appearance is cool, calm, and collected while my inner self is on some…Nobody Move Nobody Get Hurt…

Authenticity is defined as: not false or imitation; real, actual, true to one's own personality, spirit, or character. Authentic, genuine, bona fide means being actually and exactly what is claimed, while authentic implies being fully trustworthy as according with fact. We live in a world where we enter into spaces, places, and relationships that cause us to shrink or sever aspects of ourselves to be seen, acknowledged, respected, or welcomed. I mean, most of us can’t be who we truly are at school, at work, or, hell, even at home. Don’t be too loud, they say; don’t be too quiet; don’t be too inquisitive, too ratchet, or too prude. Don't be too clingy, but also don’t be too standoffish.

We have parts of our being that deserve some light, but we are too afraid of rejection to shine a light on them. We have character traits and mannerisms that only we know about and even some that we don’t fully understand. We grow and change daily. As the world evolves, so do we. We can become more authentic and true to who we are when we deepen the trust that we have with ourselves and release attachment to a desired outcome. We often hold back because we fear that people won't accept us as we truly are, and that’s a real and valid fear because we need connection on the cellular level. However, deepening our trust with ourselves and the universal laws of nature will allow us to be okay with the outcome.

The world will provide us with what WE need and who WE need when WE choose to show up as ourselves. We don’t need you to be perfect; that’s a fallacy. The TRUTH IS…it’s less about the people that need you being able to find you than it is about you being able to find you when you need you.