Authentic Artifice

“Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.” - John F. Kennedy

In a world where being authentic is equated to sharing stories that frame you as vulnerable, we are becoming more skilled in putting on an act, believing this act thus, preventing true expression.

We are learning more in the modern world, to be hustlers—doing every and anything to hit our dopamine rush; shrouded as meaning but rooted in the heart’s lustful desire to one-up or “keep up with the Joneses”. We are learning a frame for expression, we call it branding. Only that, we have become desperate for prominence and we would do anything to create the edifice that would ensure the kind of attention we seek, in whatever currency, gravitate towards us based on our created frames.

We scream at the top of our voices —“Be Authentic”. Yet, how ironic that we are not in the slightest—one with who we are or at least think we are. We are constantly pulled towards the popular, driven to engage based on what we believe to be right, and nurtured to mirror the path of those we admire.

Authentic? Are we?

This idea of authenticity, built on bricks of externalities—giving us the illusion of essence congruence is a plague. We are celebrated by those who have no idea of what it means to be authentic. I mean, those who are not even authentic themselves and we stand full of ourselves, thinking we truly are one with genius.

But, are we?

Even in the dexterity of skill and display of brilliance, we can tell of what we are playing to mirror which is not ourselves. We can feel the scathing pain in our bodies, and the lack of freedom we experience as we express ourselves. We can tell that we are putting on an act and we are truly and deeply inauthentic. Beyond the applause of others and the appearance of results, we can tell that we may be good learners of others but bad reflections of who we are at core.

For some, it is the intense desperation to show up and show off, to prove to themselves and others especially, that they are more than they were captured as. It reads as ambition that is culled from a desire to perform than to express. It is creation that is a design to prove, to blow, and to show than it is to be and to express. It is subtle but it is present.

For others, it’s a subtle attempt to stay within a controlled environment, to not conform to “status quo” but conform to a status quo within the status quo where it seems like they are one with themselves when in reality, they are lurkers for validation under the guise of circles and ideologies that seem to go against the grain. They are conformists who shroud their conformity by sheltering under the umbrella of non-conformists.

The reality is, if we are truly honest with ourselves, we can tell when we are deeply inauthentic, following the path that is comfortable but appears challenging. That is, we rally around someone who is truly authentic and express ourselves within the boundaries of their authenticity. Thus, we start to shape-shift.

How we show up becomes founded upon how they show up. Their evolution and reinvention continually necessitating your re-invention. We can be a stickler for one thing because we think they are and when they evolve, we quickly change course. Unconsciously, we piggyback off the authenticity of another and their expression of genius. If they are truly authentic, this disease isn't so noticeable in our work and expression but, we can tell..if we choose to pay attention.

Constantly, we truncate our genius to fit into the frame of another’s expression because we are truly not authentic. To put it lightly, we do not even know what it means to be authentic to believe in our authenticity, and to vibrate out of our essence. We are too scared to be wrong, too crippled by our self-esteem to be genius, and too conformist to be authentic.

We are in a chase. A chase of the spectacular, looking like purpose (or purposed perfection), desirous of an end. This end is more important to us than congruence. We are more keen to trick or trade. To choose to be performative or to be as a child with our art. Often, we choose performance because it seems like the easier option.

To be a mirror of another is easier than to be a representation of yourself. If you are creative and smart enough, you can mirror another so excellently you make crafty edits to look like a different iteration of your mirror. This may seem truly remarkable and a pass in the school of branding. This is what is mostly communicated and even taught as authentic branding today.

“If your mirror loves green, why don’t you use red”?

We create, we express, and we vibrate but NOT out of the fabric of who we are. We make edits to hide the part of us that screams out our pathetic inauthenticity to numb the reality and excuse our disease.

My question to you is —Are you truly authentic? Beyond expression based on what you like or how you think you should express…are you?

The Magnetic Pull Of The Status Quo

It isn’t uncommon that when we think of the status quo, we think more of what is prevalent generally as opposed to what is prevalent within “given systems”—whatever those systems are.

We are often incapable of seeing the conventions, expectations, and norms that compel us to conform to established patterns of behavior, thought, and expression, especially when it is the focus of our admiration. We don’t realize that the status quo is anything that is deemed acceptable or desirable. It represents an inertia of modern tradition (in this context), the comfort of familiarity, and the safety of conformity.

It is evident in how we often seek out evidence that helps us truncate our visions, edit our goals, and aid our inauthenticity. We become caught up in staying within the familiar, within the celebrated frame of the world, or within the edifice of those we behold; for fear of change.

It is evident in how uncomfortable we are in our skin, our ideas, and our unique ways of expression. It is evident in how accepting we become of ideas, behaviors, and ideologies that we previously neglected but seem to now be communicated with prestige or validated by society or the focus of our admiration.

It is evident in how our transitions are defined by society rather than our unique process and expression. Because, we would rather change into what is accepted, familiar, and established than anything that suggests newness—whether in our minds or reality.

This magnetic pull is subtle, almost unbelievably common amongst the purpose-driven yet disregarded and unattended to.

This is why the onus always rests on you to disregard externalities in every moment, to look inwards, to pulse-check, and to truly determine your alignment with yourself.

Being purposeful is easier. But, being meaningful? That's where the game changes. Purpose can easily be performative whereas, meaning is core. It's the sense of your essence and life to your Spirit.

Again, Genius, are you authentic or is it an artifice?

Beyond the applause and appraisals, you can tell.

That nauseating rush to express that you can't make sense of is information to work on.

The Cure To Authentic Artifice (How To Be Authentic)

If you've noticed, I don't like formulas or “how to’s”. I believe they are grossly misleading. Usually, what's important is investigation and perspective. However, for the sake of this essay, let's roll with the “how to”.

You've probably read to this point and wondered whether you are authentic or not, you would mostly believe any option because there exists a premise in your mind.

To put lightly, you'd rather keep your walls up than let them crumble. This is why we have premises in our minds. It prevents us from objective thinking ESPECIALLY relating to ourselves.

It is however critical that you pay attention to your premises to be able to receive the “cure”. Let’s dive in.

The reality of our upbringing already sets us up for inauthenticity in the finest way. We are molded and sculpted according to a person’s frame of what, when, and how. We are guided in the steps of another, learning what is right and wrong—from the POV of who is teaching it.

The challenge with this is how suggestible it makes us function in the world. We become more keen on expressing what is right and suppressing what is wrong. We evolve with this mental mark such that we start to experience essence inconsistencies. Who we are at core seems to be at loggerheads with whom we express continually. We pay attention to what is disregarded or disapproved about us and we learn to mask that. This is your diagnosis of the authentic artifice.

In however or whatever way we express ourselves, when we experience inconsistencies between our internal environment and external expression, we are inauthentic. Now, the challenge is—many have learned to mask these inconsistencies. They lie to themselves that who they think they are is who they express when in reality, who they truly are is something they have not uncovered, nor accepted while who they express is what they like and want to be like.

Modern cultures across self-help and religion are party to this problem because the misconstrued process of visioning and vision-boarding often stems from hatred or disdain for the current self, without much effort to uncover the true self and create the next self. Rather, it is fixated on being what you like—often not borne out of introspection but an attempt to run away from your current life. Thinking that being another would change the unending tantrums in your internal environment.

Problematically, it doesn't happen that way. You would only always be a copy. That's what it means to be inauthentic—to not be genuine. Sadly, many have become arrogantly inauthentic that their only desire is to experience the life of another (albeit unconscious) by being a copy of them.

The cure is a not-so-simple, simple one. It is to pay attention to yourself, to realize who you are, and to accept this person. It is to see yourself as enough, to look inward quite intricately and objectively, and to embrace that person without fear of being wrong, common, or accepted.

It is looking to arenas of your suppressed self, arenas of your copied self and to discard every inconsistency—even if it means changing what you've become.

You see, the slope of learning is a slippery one, especially for an unaware learner. You must love yourself enough that even as you learn and gaze upon the brilliance of another, you are appreciative yet unfazed or insecure by their expression of genius.

We all vibrate differently. The person you try to emulate is a perfect representation of their imperfections. They are brilliant on their lane, with their original design. Accept yourself and practice congruence.

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Remember, in a world where you can be anything, be Genius.

— Faith Ohio