The Path
I’ve found it particularly hard, throughout my life, to find a path and stick with it. Call it mental or emotional ADD. I see a shiny new ring and I want to grab it. I get fatigued and lose my way. Someone challenges my path and I am filled with self-doubt. And then there is Rielle Hunter.
Never have I wanted to throw up on myself so badly as when I heard her say the word “authentic” 1500 times in one hour (so it’s an exaggeration. I could not bear to actually count) while “sharing” with Oprah (Oprah-I sure as hell hope that OWN TV is going to be more like the magazine and less like your final season…blech!).
When you hear a deluded media hog like Hunter go on and on about “living her truth” (i.e. doing what makes HER feel good) and being devoted to authenticity and your blog banner is said word…well, it could fill even the most secure writer/freelancer/human with blushing dread.
I’ll never ever be able to say or read the word the same way again.
Are any of us truly authentic? OR aren’t we inherently authentic, even when going through massive plastic surgery to morph into someone we admire-if for no other reason than we ARE uniquely “us” via our DNA? Aren’t we all impacted by pop culture, our parenting, our social circle, Netflix, spiritual focus and whatever other sources of data that we take in? And if you and I did exactly the same thing for the rest of our lives, we’d still be uniquely ourselves.
Regardless. I’d already been having a search for meaning in my own life and had taken a break from blogging and the online media world for a bit to clear my head and try to regain focus. Then along came Rielle…
Who knows? It’s a journey, right? But I sure would like to kick her.
From what you’ve said, I can quite understand how Rielle Hunter’s use (misuse, abuse, overuse) of ‘authenticity’ and its meanings would have left you cringing, amongst other things. I would draw attention to the idea that these are the meanings she has given that word, and yet there is still the perfect freedom for you to continue to use ‘authenticity’ in all the ways that ring most deeply true.
I continue to find it an empowering word, even though Rielle Hunter will say what she wants, which doesn’t have to affect me, or you, or anyone else. If “Authentic, Relevant, Organic” is the way you’ve found to express what you are and what you’re about, stay with it and use the opportunity to journey even more deeply into it – an invitation instead of a curse.
I find “authentic, relevant, organic” such a lovely and succinct guideline for my own work, and thank you for that.
Hugs,
Josie
Ah, leave it to you, Josie, to soothe my anxiety-ridden soul. Your words will be clipped out and stuck up on my inspiration board. You are a good sweet soul…
Kelly