Authentic Self

Years ago, before his one-liners became too irritating for me, I really enjoyed Dr. Phil’s insight.  One thing he used to discuss a great deal was the concept of “authentic self”, which he describes as follows:

The authentic self is the you that can be found at your absolute core. It is the part of you not defined by your job, function or role. It is the composite of all your skills, talents and wisdom. It is all of the things that are uniquely yours and need expression, rather than what you believe you are supposed to be and do.

The hard part becomes finding your absolute core but I feel pretty comfy in going out on a limb and stating that most people haven’t found it. For instance, many people are in jobs solely for the money rather than the mission and, trust me, I get that. We all need to pay the mortgage and put food on the table. But what’s our passion? What are we aside from moms and dads and worker bees?

For me, it’s writing. This isn’t a new discovery. When I was in elementary school, I would type out stories on this really cool typewriter that used cursive font lettering. It was blue and had a carrying case and I had it for years until it probably made its way to a garage sale during one of my mothers spring cleaning tirades. My ideas would come so fast that the keys on the typewriter couldn’t keep up and so they’d all crash into each other like vehicles at an intersection with no traffic signal. Again and again, I’d pry the keys apart and continue typing my short stories which were, I am certain, ridiculously pointless and ill inspired.

But I loved it. I preferred it over playing outside or watching tv or any other pasttime. That passion for putting on paper what was floating around in my head stuck with me until other things pulled me away; distracted me from what I loved most. But, always, it remained in my heart…quieted until this blog.

If I could do it all again, I would learn all there is to know about writing. How to capture, express, articulate and flow the words in an artistic way that would capture the reader and transport them like so many wonderful authors and writers have done for me in my lifetime. To me, there is little that can compare to reading words on a page that become a picture in our head or a feeling in our heart. How blessed are they who can create that for people unmet and unseen?

My authentic self loves expressing words, albeit in an amateur and unpolished fashion. Despite the fact that the words are read by limited people; I have written them.  The reading part of the equation is inconsequential. The writing part is the passion and the answer to my authentic self.