Are you tired of the terms authenticity and empowerment popping up everywhere?
And what do they truly mean anyway?
Recently, I was invited to be a guest on “Speak Your Truth Saturday” - a series on Instagram by Harriet Cooper - a witch, spiritual teacher and guide, who helps survivors of narcissistic abuse strip away the false narratives imposed on them, reclaiming their identity piece by piece. This series of conversations aims to dive deep into what it truly means to embrace authenticity & empowerment, and I was honoured to participate and speak on a topic that means a lot to me - what it truly means to embrace authenticity and empowerment.
“Open the holy place that you closed off by valuing the 'something else' and what was never lost will quietly return.” - A Course in Miracles
I believe the concepts of empowerment and authenticity are foundational to any journey of personal and/or spiritual development. Where it gets tricky sometimes, is when we're not able to uncover the knowledge of these that lives in us. I believe this happens for a couple of reasons:
One, because we don't fully understand what those terms mean for ourselves, and two, because we’re bombarded with messaging about what those terms mean from others. And not everybody who is using those terms is fully connected to their own definition of them.
They've become these sort of buzz words, and they lose their power and meaning when they get watered down through the vagueness of how they are used without being fully thought through.
You can counteract this murkiness by taking time to reflect on what the definitions of those words are for yourself.
What’s true for me, might not be the same as what’s true for you. That’s perfect.
But - if what I say resonates with you, then it’s likely because it’s connecting to some truth within yourself. Only you can fully answer that. The point is that you give it some consideration for yourself.
Authenticity and empowerment are not something that you need to go out and learn how to do or be, because they already reside in you. You were born with them. They never left. It's just that they might be underneath a few things.
I like to think of my mind as an untidy bedroom or attic: pick up a few of the clothes lying in that pile, tidy up those papers, give the floor a sweep, and you might discover some amazing things up there!
The best way to re-discover your connection to authenticity and empowerment, in my opinion, is to have faith that your personal understanding of them does exist (you don’t need to learn it from someone else to find out) take some time to contemplate what it means to you, and then measure what's outside of you to that inner experience.
Does what you see and hear rub up against you in a way that challenges you to go deeper?
Does it not resonate or have any effect at all? And if so can you release it as being for someone else and not for you?
Does it shimmer with some resonance or remembering? In this case, can you open up a little more and see what else is within?
It's a shame that something so important and vital can get so easily diluted down. Many will dismiss a person, or pass by a valuable experience or insight because those words and labels have been added. For some they are the equivalent of vague, “spiritual clap-trap.”
But I believe that if you’re connected to what they mean to you, then when you use them, their power returns. People will feel them, people will notice them. You’re going to awaken something within them. The more you come back to your own true authenticity and empowerment, the more you’ll help others. Not because you're teaching them your version of things, but because they are attuning to the frequency of them through your presence, through your embodiment. Just as two tuning forks come into sympathetic vibration, or multiple metronomes will fall into sync
When you're busy chasing authenticity outside of yourself, you will come up empty and frustrated. So why not turn off the outside noise, stop chasing all of the shiny things, and go quietly to find that "holy place" within.