National Authenticity Day 2025
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The phrase is a famous quote from Shakespeare's Hamlet. It refers to the concept of being honest oneself and to exist according to one's own values and principles. I've always thought the idea suggests that being true to oneself is the foundation for being honest and trustworthy with others.
I didn't always practice this. In the early 1970s I would confabulate features of existence in order to make my meager existence seem more appealing.
I must have unconsciously thought I wasn't good enough for the company I kept. Turns out that I exceed those parameters by and large and I've been much happier since I simply present that which I am and go forth among my fellow man. That backstabbing lot with whom I once socialized turned out to be the weak link. Not me.
Today is National Authenticity Day.
It is observed each August 16 annually.
Authenticity is the ability to present yourself as you are.
Your features. Your lifestyle. Your character. Your uniqueness.
Following the herd simply was never for me.
So now I attempt to shine my light on the world and be that person I always was ... but suppressed because I thought him to be unmanly or unworthy of the attentions of others.
I must say that my authentic self is vastly preferable than the fantasy to which I was once prone.
Be who you are. Nothing else will be better than the real you.
Happy National Authenticity Day.