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It’s Hard to be Authentic
But trying is usually enough.
Authenticity means something different to everyone. Maybe it’s a singer who sounds even better live than on their albums. An artist who does everything by hand. A writer who lives by their own words.
Maybe authenticity is one of those things better defined by their opposite — the fake, the con artist, the fraud.
The singer who can’t carry a tune on stage. The scientist who faked all their results. The plagiarist.
Those beautifully curated lives on Instagram.
The politicians who run on platforms they don’t even believe in. All those rich, white senators in flyover states who have no problem with abortion when it comes to their own families.
You get the idea.
But it’s harder to be genuine than you’d think. Unless you’re some bum who makes no effort at all. Nobody expects anything from the troll, so there’s no one to let down. Nothing to live up to.
So I guess we can define authenticity like this: You only promise what you can deliver. You’re honest, and you hold yourself accountable — even when you screw up. But we can go even further, I think…
