Have you ever noticed how often we are told by the world around us to just \"be yourself\"? We hear it in pop songs, we see it on social media, and we read it in self-help books. The ultimate goal of modern life, we are told, is authenticity. And the way you find that authenticity is by looking deep inside yourself, discovering your unique, unrepeatable core, and expressing it to the world—no matter what anyone else thinks. In this modern view, you are the architect of your own identity. You build yourself from the inside out.
But let’s be honest: that is an incredibly heavy burden to carry. It leaves us constantly anxious, wondering, \"Am I being real enough? Am I living my truth?\"
","author_name":"Michael Harding"}