The Definition of Authenticity

What does it mean to be authentic?

In a recent post I suggested that “at the heart of Jungian therapy is the aim of experiencing and living an authentic life” and presented some material from Carl Jung’s writings in support of that idea. 

For Jung, authenticity emerges through the process of individuation, which is the process of connecting to and living out of the Self and not just the ego.

Jung’s emphasis is on the individual and how a person becomes and expresses him or herself as the unique person that they are. And so it occurs to me that if authenticity means anything, that meaning will be different for each individual.

How do others understand what it means to be authentic? What can we understand about authentic living by engaging several different definitions of authenticity?

The etymology of authentic contains the sense of independence, of “being the author” of something, and of “acting on one’s own authority.” 

To begin to get a sense of the diversity inherent in the concept of authenticity, I turned to social media to seek out the definitions offered by other voices, other “authors.” 

The different approaches that people have in their understanding of authenticity are like the many facets of a jewel. It is a multiplicity that together describes the whole picture. Here are some of the responses I received along with some other ideas of being authentic that I found online.

Authenticity is Honesty

Being honest. Speaking up and speaking out. Living your truth.

For some the basis of authenticity is honesty:

Sometimes authenticity requires the bravery of honesty.  I am reminded in this context of a quote by Gandhi, who said: “A ‘No’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.”

Often it can feel like it takes great effort to be true to oneself and to others in a world that seems to strive for conformity and homogeneity. 

As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” 

Authenticity is Just Being

In one intriguing tweet, honesty is equated with being. When we stop “trying to be” someone or something else other than who we are–when we stop “pretending”–then we start to simply be.

To be yourself is no easy task, though. Mindfulness. Emptiness. Stillness. These are all at the heart of the world’s wisdom traditions. And though they sound simple, they can be profoundly difficult, as the author of this tweet implies:

Authenticity is by no means easy, as the poet David Whyte powerfully reminds us:

“‘Just be yourself,’ people say, as if they have suddenly thought of something entirely original, and as if they have forgotten the terrible, wrenching initiations most religions insist on for arriving at that elusive self. To be yourself is to be no self at all but to be the frontier, the frontier between you and [the other].”

Authenticity is Harmony

Honesty is how we deal with the outer world. Being is our connection to our innermost self. When we are able to relate effectively to both the inner and outer, we are in harmony. Several individuals expressed this as their definition of authenticity:

But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads? ~ Albert Camus

One Facebook follower offered the following lovely and humble vision of authenticity. To be authentic, she suggests, we must stop seeking love and acceptance from outside ourselves while at the same time stop projecting what we don’t like onto others and the world:

“For me, being authentic and living an authentic life, means stepping into all I am called into this lifetime to be. Beyond social conditioning and family programming, the greatest gift we are given, and can give, is to be who we are. In essence. It means having to grow up, love and parent ourselves. To withdraw and integrate those parts of us that run rampant, and to live, to the best of our ability, our wholeness into the world.”

And so, what about you? What does it mean to be authentic? How do you live your authenticity? I’d love to know. Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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