Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Authentic Self

I am sure most of you have seen in the news the story about the Notre Dame football player that was deceived by an online love interest.  Supposedly this online love affair went on for awhile, and then she supposedly died of cancer, but come to find out it was all a lie. It had been another man that he had been talking to for all those years online....she never existed.

There is a show on MTV called "Catfish", and if it is on when you are flipping through channels..it is fascinating. It is directed by a guy who had a online love affair with what he thought was a young beautiful blonde, but come to find out it was a 40 some year old married housewife. This whole process of him finding the truth was documented. He now helps others discover their mysterious online loves, and see if it was who they had been led to believe they had fallen in love with.

From a psychology aspect this show is fascinating to watch. We encounter people, and we collectively move along in this subconscious stream together everyday...but...for some people... to connect to someone..... they choose a  faceless world to connect to...and a lot of times present a "false" self...the self they have always wanted to be ..or thought others wanted them to be.

"To thine own self be true".........Shakespeare.....the 1500's .......people presenting themselves in a false context.

The grandeur of the Egyptian "Gods" an their grand pyramids......dated BC....presenting themselves as deity's from the celestial skies...they were human as you and I.....

Is that an inherent human flaw...this need to hide our...authenticate self?

I tease that I am old...I know I have a lot of life to live... and infinite amount to still learn....

but...I will say this...I have learned in my short (young) 37 years...that

I am a who I am.....I am not going to mold myself to accommodate others to make them more comfortable ....

I am okay with my thoughts, my spirituality...I am okay being me...

There are aspects of me that need work..my husband may say I have several aspects..... but they are my flaws.. and I accept those flaws....and thankfully my husband does to ;)....

My daughter asked me the other day why I don't sew. Keep in context that we live in a state where a lot of women are into crafty things...including sewing....I answered with "I don't enjoy it, crafting is not my interest, just like some people don't like to cook, or play sports, or hike up a mountain"....

...and then she said something that spurred this blog post....

...she said....."Is it embarrassing that you don't know how to sew?..."you can pretend you can.".....

*BING*...there it is...don't be your authenticate self...be what others think you should be...

I just patted her on the head and said, "I highly doubt any cares if I sew...at the end of the day those kind of things don't matter...and people will love me for just being me!"

I watch people flounder, and consistently trying to find their authenticate self....

I just want to hold them and say...."Why would you think your authenticate self is not good enough, that is how you were born, that is who you are...that is perfection...and how are you going to beat perfection?"

If I do one thing right as a parent.. I hope I can not stress this enough to my children.....

LIVE...live as nothing but your authenticate self.....

Because that is infinite perfection!






2 comments:

  1. Because the entire world does not have your amazing viewpoint and selfless love. It is difficult to live your authentic self in a world that wants you to be anything but.
    (Not saying that we shouldn't strive for this...and I am...just that it can be so. damn. hard.)
    Love you, my friend. I'm thankful for people like you in my life.

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  2. Love this post. Being authentic requires us to be vulnerable to criticism and rejection from the people around us. It requires our self worth to be grounded somewhere deeper than just the acceptance of our social and family groups.

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