“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.”
~ C.G. Jung“Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It’s about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen.”
~ Brené Brown
It’s Monday (or almost Monday if you don’t live in Australia like me!), and this week I have some important advice for you.
This week, do everything you possibly can to be yourself. Speak with your own voice, write in your own voice, dress to reflect your values and personality, in relationships be you, in business be you.
This might be hard if you haven’t been yourself for a while. You may even need to go spend time with yourself to remember what you truly enjoy, or to discover or uncover your true tastes and preferences. As a writer or an artist or a creative you may need some self-examination and experimentation.
You may need to dig deep.
But I promise, there is magic in being your authentic self.
So I encourage you…
Be you.
You may have no idea of the power of that.
In the modern world we are surrounded by clones. People who dress the same, people who speak using the same words and phrases, people who think the same and who offer the same-same-same. This is true of big businesses and small businesses too. So much of what you see are outright copies or weak dilations of the same themes and concepts.
In a world where there is so much competition, and so much fakery, all you need to do to truly stand out is to be yourself.
In business, or thinking of starting one? The tracking of purchasing decisions shows a growing movement towards arthouse, bespoke pieces, to brands and products with history, story and authenticity. Many buyers want to make an emotional connection. They crave authentic and individual over commercial and mass-produced. Your story connects with them and validates them. Your individuality helps them to define themselves.
In work, in love, in what you teach, in what you share, in your creations and your home space, in how you dress and speak and live, just be who you are.
Trying to be someone else, trying to copy someone else won’t work unless you truly resonate with what they are doing.
You really can succeed doing it your way, and staying true to you. In fact, that is your magic. Your own personal secret ingredient.
When you build your life or your business with integrity it might be a slower process but it will have a steady foundation and chances are it will stay built.
Your gift to the world is your authentic self. It’s who you came here to be. There is nothing more powerful or dynamic than that. Nothing more beautiful or true.
Be you. That’s your gift. That’s your magic.
Reblogged this on Lady Dyanna and commented:
Wonderful Post
Yup! Yup! Yup! Love this . I am on holiday and it’s completely free . I can be ME . I have been given the luxury of being me and I’m going to grasp that opportunity with both hands and feet . A whole week …yippee . Watch out everyone the true CHERRY is about😘
Cherryx
Hi Nicole – I love the realness of your cooking photos – you don’t scrub the baking pan clean, like it has never been used. Your photos look like my baking pan and what it would look like if I stuck it in the oven!!! It makes me feel like I could do it too.
Hahaha! Thank you!!! Of course, you can do it too, and I hope you do! 🙂 Sue, your timing is impeccable, as someone was just advising me on how to set up lights, props etc etc, and to ‘stage’ my food to make my cooking ‘more professional’, like ‘proper food bloggers do’.
Why does it need to be that? I take photos with my iPhone as I am cooking or serving up. Everyone who visits knows that I will take photos while cooking (no, I don’t clear the mess out of the way – cooking can be messy), as the food hits the table or as it is plated up. But I have to be quick, because we’re hungry and you don’t wait anyone to wait too long.
Mine is a farm kitchen, where I cook for family and friends. There is no dish-pig here (I use that restaurant term very affectionately), and no industrial-strength degreasers or other chemicals – only me, soap and elbow grease. Honestly, I swear once some of these pans were used once they never looked the same again!!! So they’re all in good, clean USED condition. (I know a blogger who buys new bakeware for her shots, or transfers cooked meals into clean, never-cooked-in dishes to look good for the photo-shoot). Nothing wrong with that, if you have the patience for it, but that’s not the world I live in.
If I make it in my kitchen I expect that you can too, from easily sourced ingredients, simple technology, and with the same results as me. This isn’t Masterchef – this is life! I specialise in baking and meal production for the weary, time-poor and low-confidence would-be cooks. I want you to have the same skills my nana and grandmother gave me. Not fancy, but honest and good simple foods that nourish.
Thanks so much for your feedback. I promise not to change a thing.
this is beautiful. thank you. and well/creatively written
Sometimes being me isn’t easy, I try to bend and twist to be who others think I should be, although the older I get the more I am me and not feeling like I am being bent to fit who others think I am.
That was great confirmation for what I am doing. It’s the emotional connection in my feather drawings that is connecting to people. I’ve printed out the last pic about Courage. That is exactly where I came from in Art and now I do what my heart tells me to. Enjoy you break xxx
I needed this. Thank you
What a beautiful and inspiring post to start the week. Thanks for the reminders to be our selves and not to fake it.
Precisely what I need for this week!
I feel this is so true for me in every way right now. Still, we need to be reminded. Thanks for the encouragement.
Thank you Nicole, preparing for my mothers funeral today.,Exactly what I needed to read this morning..
What a great pick me up in the midst of all that has been going on. Many kind regards, lisa
Thinking of you, Lisa, and sending you so much love xx