Life is fierce and difficult. There is no life we can live without being subject to grief, loss, and heartbreak. Half of every conversation is mediated through disappearance. Thus, there is every reason to want to retreat from life, to carry torches that illuminate only our own view, to make enemies of life and of others, to hate what we cannot understand and to keep the world and the people who inhabit it at a distance through prejudicial naming; but therefore, it also follows, that our ability to do the opposite, to meet the other in the world on their own terms, without diminishing them, is one of the necessary signatures of human courage; and one we are being asked to write, above all our flaws and difficulties, across the heavens of this, our present time.”
Poet David Whyte, Essentials
Authenticity is Giving Yourself Permission to be Real
Being authentic involves the ability to be introspective and understand what motivates oneself. Such accurate self-knowledge can be a double-edged sword, though, if it reveals uncomfortable truths or weaknesses that one would rather not admit. However, advocates of authenticity argue that in the long run, it’s better to be accurate than biased.
Being authentic can also put a person at odds with their larger peer group if their emerging perspective is an unpopular one. However, authentic people wouldn’t look to others for approval or surrender to the social pressures of what they should or shouldn’t do. The validation they derive from following an internal compass is sufficient for their mental well-being.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/authenticity
Without divine intervention, I’m not sure Lisa, this week’s podcast guest, and I would have ever really engaged in a heart-to-heart.
At a national conference of AWSA and CPE, Lisa and I were serendipitously placed at the same table for the big book signing event of the conference. Ironically, Lisa had won “Fiction Book of the Year,” and I had won, “Nonfiction Book of the Year,” so we both had some fun being side-by-side. Initially, I was quite internally frustrated by this arrangement, because “all of the other authors” had pretty tableclothed round tables where they could set up their banners and author paraphernalia conveniently beside their tables. It was “the pretty way,” or so I thought.
God has other ideas. He wanted to connect two “seemingly” different people, side-by-side.
I’m so glad he did.
Meet Lisa E. Betz
Lisa, a self-proclaimed secret misfit, and quietly unconventional introvert is a mechanical engineer turned fiction writer. She shares her journey with you in Episode 1 of our two-part conversation.
I am what is now called an ambivert.
Watch this short, fun video, “Are You an Ambivert, Introvert, or Extrovert,” to figure out which category you might fall in. You might be surprised, I certainly was!
https://www.scienceofpeople.com/ambivert/
Authenticity Unleashes an Unstoppable Spirit of Unity
In November 2009, after two remarkable trips to Thailand to lead an international women’s retreat, I became deeply passionate about spiritual unity. At that conference, women from 21 nationalities gathered to worship, learn, and grow, together. For many of the women, English was their third or fourth language, yet, there seemed to be no barriers to communication.
I came home with an other-worldly vision of what it could look like if women released comparison, competition, envy, jealousy, and inauthenticity.
At the time, I entered into a real dark valley in which I was tested on a million levels. You can read all about that journey in my second book, Overcoming Hurtful Words: Rewrite Your Own Story.
Authenticity: What are Your Thoughts, Heartlifter?
Why, when we know that there’s no such thing as perfect, do most of us spend an incredible amount of time and energy trying to be everything to everyone? Is it that we really admire perfection? No – the truth is that we are actually drawn to people who are real and down-to-earth. We love authenticity and we know that life is messy and imperfect.”
Brene Brown
This week’s podcast prompts might require a little more thought and introspection than usual.
Here you go:
- What does it look like to feel really comfortable in your skin?
- How does this reserve beautiful, powerful energy for fulfilling your destiny and God-breathed purpose?
Resources
- Listen to Part I: Authenticity: Give Yourself Permission to Be Real
- Watch Part 1 on my YouTube Channel
- Get to know Lisa: Lisa E. Betz
- Read more of Lisa’s writings: Lisa’s BLOG
- Download Lisa’s “Quietly Unconventional Manifesto”
- Take the Enneagram Test Here are my favorites: CHESTNUT-PAES or Enneagram Institute or Integrative Enneagram
- Need help finding your authentic self: Heartlift Central or enroll in “Stronger Every Day: The Guide” and gain nine emotional health tools that will lead you to become your most authentic self.
- Email me with your thoughts: janell@janellrardon.com.