AUTHENTIC

What lies behind the word “authentic”?

Each of us believes we can define what is “authentic,” and each of us feels that at least at times, we are authentic ourselves. It seems simple – to be yourself, to be true to yourself. But perhaps what we consider sincere and authentic is merely an illusion? Maybe our “authenticity” is a carefully woven collage of other people’s ideas, values, and cultural clichés? And isn’t it paradoxical that, in invoking our own identity, we reach for ready images – and sometimes even for our own imagination, as if that too weren’t shaped by someone else’s narratives?