Pretending To Be Authentic

Authenticity and Paradox

Photo by andry star on Unsplash

Paradoxes and Authenticity

I’ve been thinking a lot about authenticity. I often set an intention to be more authentic when going to a men’s group meeting, therapy, or a retreat. But more authentic than what? It’s not always as cut-and-dry as I often assume.

For example, while exploring HoTin Cheng’s Substack post, I found this statement:

“If you fake bravery when you are terrified, that is bravery.”

We usually think of being authentic as the opposite of being fake. So, at what point in Cheng’s statement does the faking shift into authenticity? The statement holds: It is courageous to fake bravery, especially when scared. But bravery doesn’t reflect what you’re feeling, at least not at first. Or do we need to think about bravery in a less binary way? If you remain terrified, can you also say you’re brave? I think so.