This week I’m taking a class on Religion & Media and writing a bit here each day on some class reflections. The theme that sticks out to me today is Authenticity.
In the book The Gifts of Imperfection author Brene Brown describes authenticity as:
“a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It’s about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen. There are people who consciously practice being authentic, there are people who don’t, and there are the rest of us who are authentic on some days and not so authentic on other days.”
What a neat quote. As a lover of pajamas, in a literal sense this means wearing what makes me happy, what brings me joy. As a future pastor it means transparency, being yourself in the pulpit and at Target. In a culture of designer brands and plastic surgery I wonder if authenticity can be difficult to achieve for many. For many we hide behind a mask of expectations from others, showing instead a highly polished image of what we want people to see.
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So how do you define authenticity? How do you live it out? Feel free to comment with your thoughts.
Great thoughts Ryan! I might have to get that book. It reminds me of that song and music video “Try”, where the girls take off all their hair extensions and make-up and wind up being prettier in the end. My daughters and I have watched it and discussed it. Thanks for reminding me that we adults also don’t have to try so hard.
and oh, the try video, what an excellent tie in to this…new to me, just viewed it, thank you! Will definitely keep this handy for my daughter, guessing she’ll see value in this soon enough too. thanks again!
thanks Linda, miss seeing you at campus this intensive! This Religion&Media class is great, think you’d get a kick out of it down the road. of the readings so far the book Click 2 Save, available at http://tinyurl.com/oya73px is tops imo. It’s a how-to handbook for digital media in faith-based setting, getting lots of ideas from it. Hope to see you in June!
Well, I’m not sure what you mean when you say to “be authentic”. The closest I can come to defining this… is being as honest, or truthful as one can possibly be. Sometimes truth can be brutal and can hurt. Like if you see an acquaintance and notice they look a lot older than their actual age, and they have become obese. You could be truthful and say, “Oh my, I’m concerned for your health… you look old and fat”. That might be authentic, but I don’t think a good idea. I don’t think it’s a lie, or being unauthentic to withhold my thoughts. Still, others have argued its best to be as honest as you can possibly be, (dammed those who can’t handle the truth)…? A challenging topic – thanks for posting!