Encountering Authenticity: How Tipping One Piece Can Set All Things in Motion
Monday Editions
I feel like at this point, it’s time to introduce you to my aunt, who, without a doubt, is the spark that led us here. And in a way, everything that follows traces back to a promise I made to her days before she unexpectedly passed away.
My aunt was the embodiment of authenticity.
A real force of nature with a beautifully soft core she nourished and protected. She was fierce, strong, fearless, confident, funny, incredibly caring and brutally honest – a trait that gave quite a, let’s say, fiery contrast with my family’s more indirect communication culture. She never beat around the bush or backed down in a heated discussion, and she expressed herself with a firmness and clarity I never witnessed anywhere else coming from a woman growing up. In other words: she was unapologetically herself, and to this day, she’s inspired me to keep cultivating my own version in an equally steadfast manner. My aunt saw me long before I could, in times when I was lacking orientation, purpose, and trust. When I didn’t recognise myself in the mirror and felt utterly incapable of even remotely reaching a reality I could feel excited to wake up to again, she was there, holding space – with the unmistakable certainty that things would light up sooner than I think. Sometimes, all it takes to find a way out is someone lending you the confidence until you’ve built your own; a gift of immeasurable value we’re all capable of making, by the way.
My promise to her
The last time we saw each other before she unexpectedly passed away too many years ago, she made me promise her that I was not going to ever compromise on being myself while building my life. It took me a couple of years of gathering the courage to start acting accordingly, but that in itself is already part of the journey – the preparation. Rooted in the encouragement coming from those who believe in you before you do.
Authenticity is terrifying.
Turning our backs on people’s groundless judgement to be able to fully focus on our own voices is pretty much the exact opposite of what many of us are taught to do growing up. We’re so quick to confuse that act of self-protection with ignorance, but just as long until we realise that opinions from outside don’t equal the truth about what we can or cannot do – and yet, we love allowing them to determine the course of our whole life. Paradox, isn’t it?
Embarking on a path that feels authentic sometimes means abandoning one that would have been perceived as more fitting or accepting to our surroundings. We’re well aware that placing a no where people are used to hearing a yes from us might shake things up a bit, and sometimes, fearing those opinions can be paralysing. Taking the first step towards yourself needs courage, considering it’s unfamiliar to everyone involved. But after a while, and after gradually adding on to that first of many little steps that will follow, what has felt like unmapped green slowly turns into well-known territory.
Why’s that? As we move, the system is moving. If you start tipping one piece, maybe twisting it just a little bit further than usual, the whole system slowly shifts through that new vibration you introduced. Same goes for the other way round: if we choose to repeat a pattern, we collectively end up at the familiar outcome.
Thoughts to carry along
Authenticity is where meaning begins. Our unique perspectives and outlooks on life hold immeasurable value; it’s where the chances sleep, so to say. We hold the power to inspire and uplift each other by sharing the truth of what’s going on inside us. Authenticity leaves a lasting impression and an imprint on the hearts we touch. It’s the groundwork we lay to be able to build soul-felt connections. Finding a sense of wholeness in the inimitable combination of edges and soft core, of upbringing and present. Honouring that weave of compounds that make us who we are by starting to show up in our truest form – and trusting that wherever this leads us, it’s going to be good.
Carry-On Question
If you think about one small thing you’ve been burning to try, but been feeling held back in a way (maybe fearing what others might think, or being afraid of being a beginner, …) – what is it?
The best one yet! I love it ❤️