For over two years I’ve been participating on a chat on Twitter called #SpiritChat. The host Kumud Ajmani has gathered a group of people from all over the world, and it continues to grow. In addition to being a great and inspiring way to start our Sundays, I also met one of the participants in person and we became great friends. I highly recommend, if you are up on Sundays by 9AM EST, that you join the chat.
On Sunday, I had the opportunity to co-host the chat. I wrote the introduction to the topic The Spirit of Authenticity, based on my own experiences with being authentic, or not. One thing that I didn’t include in that article is how the topic came to me. I was on my way home after teaching an all-day course, followed by teaching another 2-hour course, and I was a bit out of it. I started to cross the street when the light turned white for pedestrians to cross. But before I took the next step, I heard “stop and look”, so I turned, and there it was – a car was speeding my way, the driver ran the red light, and if I hadn’t stopped, it would have run over me.
In addition to the thoughts that come up when such incidents happen, for some reason that experience also made me think about authenticity, and if I’m fully expressing myself and being authentic. I guess if that would have been my last day here, I would have liked, as much as possible, to be remembered by who I really am.
Here are the questions that were posted during the chat. I invite you to consider them, and feel free to post your answer to question 9, or to any of the questions that are most relevant to you, in the comments below.
- Q1. What does it mean to you to be fully authentic?
- Q2. What challenges may you face incorporating authenticity in your life/career?
- Q3. What are your criteria for authenticity? Are they (mostly) objective or subjective?
- Q4. What inner qualities develop within us when we adopt and express our authenticity?
- Q5. Worrying about how someone perceives you can hinder authenticity. Agree or disagree?
- Q6. Do you allow yourself to be authentic at all times? If not, when aren’t you?
- Q7. The connection between authenticity, success and creativity... Please share.
- Q8. For you, does authenticity manifest as 'letting go' or 'hiding your true self'?
- Impromptu Q9. Tell us one thing about YOU that sheds light on the authentic YOU. Go! 🙂
- Final Q10. To someone struggling with expressing themselves authentically, you would say…
If you’d like to read the transcript of the chat, visit this link. You will find inspiration from the 110 participants who joined that day.
Cheers to living an authentic life,
Elisa Balabram
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