Speak your truth.
Living the authentic life.
Be real.
Look, I have a confession. It only seems appropriate as this post is about authenticity after all.
*clears throat*
I am judging every single person who posts anything like the above on social media. What's more, my left eyebrow is raised in an ugly, cynical arc.*
Too harsh? Okay, yes, of course too harsh. I'm sorry. I know as a yoga practitioner I'm meant to be fully on board with over-sincerity and preaching the benefits of chia seeds. As a yoga teacher (a teacher, for God's sake, that's like ... That's like being related to Gandhi #mahatmalegend #baldiscute #hipsterspecs) I'm meant to be the living embodiment of the Yamas and Niyamas, teaching by example as I waft my way through Holland & Barrett in a cloud of patchouli and superior virtue.
In reality ~ remember, this is why we're all here, folks ~ I'm sarcastic, impatient, and hold dark thoughts towards caravaners, backwards facing baseball caps and devotees of EastEnders. Also, I wouldn't be that upset if Donald Trump were assassinated, and in yoga terms that's a big no-no. They've got a "thing" about contract killing.
We've established that I'm judgmental (I'm an INTJ personality type so my hands are pretty much tied there), quick to dismiss, ready to challenge, and rabid in the face of yoga selfies. Just fucking no, all right? What the fuck is wrong with you?
I also swear like a trooper who's stepped on a Lego brick. (Not "Legos", notice, you animals.)
In essence, I have a problematic brand. I have the wrong sort of authenticity. The right sort of authenticity speaks movingly about compassion but dismisses and decries those whose experience has made them hard. The right sort of authenticity uses filters, airbrushes and sunsets to advocate self-love and positive self image. The right sort of authenticity promotes treading lightly on the earth as it embraces fashion house freebies and flies off to exotic photo opportunities.
The self-declared authentics have #foundtheirbliss and are #busydoingitanyway. They find each other through shares, likes and tweets, flocking like happy dust motes in the sunlight of social media. They are the ultra-spirituals, walking a higher plane that we too could walk if only we tried harder.
My brand, however, eschews this notion that we can signpost our path to enlightenment through moody shots of a quinoa and spirulina smoothie. My brand says embrace being human and the mess that entails. As philospher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said:
We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.
We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
The tyranny of authenticity creates fraudsters of us all. My aim ~ my #lifegoal if you absolutely bloody must ~ is to try and be a little kinder every day. That's it. As you can see, some days I'm more successful at this than others.
And d'you know what? I'm okay with that.
*It isn't. I can't raise my eyebrows. #inauthentic