Authenticity....and why it’s never felt so good
There’s been plenty shared about the terrible impacts of our current situation;
health risks, isolation, financial hardship, loss, fear
These are very real and are affecting individuals and families to varying degrees. This is undeniable. However, we are resilient creatures, designed to survive. Overcoming problems, big or small, is what we do.
Crisis or mere inconvenience, our response mechanism kicks into play.
We adjust, adapt, accommodate. Anything to survive.
We’ve adapted to the current situation, and we’ll continue to adjust as the landscape changes.
However, you may have noticed that you’ve started to moved past adapting... and started evolving. This means creating new normals, looking for “up-sides”, making positive changes out of a place of uncertainty, frustration and fear.
A great example of this is our response to the wide use of video calls in place of social gatherings or business meetings. This may have been a new method of interaction for many, and it’s been interesting to see the difference in how people “show up” over a period of time.
This has become most apparent across the working environments. We started off presenting our everyday work personas, how we believe people expect us to be, act, look...
Roll on 10 weeks and we are seeing a noticeable shift
Cats on laps, personalised coffee mugs, families in the background, a shift in language, the staple casual wardrobe, the untamed hair styles....
We are in our homes
We are surrounded by our belongings
We are sharing our environment
We are showing more of our authentic selves
Being accepted for who we truly are is something that humans crave. In many social situations and certainly at work, we make adjustments according to our perceptions of what’s acceptable or desirable to others. It’s part of what feeds the “imposter syndrome”; imagining everyone else is gliding through life, finding it easy, coasting, while we are struggling, second guessing ourselves, just about managing to act the part!
Without necessarily being aware of it, interacting virtually - from our own environment - has provided the opportunity to show more of who we truly are. An unexpected gift. We are showing more of our personalities, realising that this is safe to do, and potentially changing how comfortable we can be with our authentic selves in the future.
How liberating.
How powerful.
“However dire the situation, you can always find a strawberry in there somewhere“, as my very smart friend and neighbour says. And being more authentic is most certainly a positive.