On Authenticity

I think about the word "authenticity" so much.

Like, what does that even really mean?

To me, that's like telling someone to follow your heart? I don't even know how to listen to what my heart is saying, so that's super unhelpful.

And if that's not you, and you are super clear, then I am clapping and cheering for you because that's INCREDIBLE.

But for me, my journey to "clarity" and "authenticity" was a little more difficult than simply "knowing".

Here's my journey: I had to try on one thousand and five different hats, and let life happen to me before I settled into my own skin and found myself in a gray space between my experience and what excites me.

What makes me authentically me--what makes anyone authentically themselves--isn't what clothes we wear, what hair color we have, or what music we listen to.

What makes us authentic is our life, our stories. What makes me authentically me is what I've been through, being the child of an alcoholic, navigating through the loss of a parent, growing up with a religion that I never identified with, going from a bullied child to graduating with a leadership award and a tribe of girls that was the biggest in the entire class. All because I was inclusive because I KNEW what it was like to be the odd-one-out and I refused to ever ever EVER exclude anyone or make them feel like they didn't belong.

Photo from: https://jillconyers.com/

These memories, these stories, these pieces of my puzzle paint my picture, my authenticity and my life.

If you struggle with these buzzwords, don't worry. You're not alone. Turn to your life. Write a timeline of major events and experiences and really reflect on how they've shaped you--how you grew from them.

Those lessons, those takeaways and what has shaped you is what makes you AUTHENTICALLY you. No one has that but YOU. And that is pure magic♥

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