There is a quiet moment before you walk into a room.
You feel the shift.
“Who do I have to be in here?”
Most of us have versions of ourselves we put on like jackets.
The “I’m fine” jacket.
The “super capable” jacket.
The “nothing bothers me” jacket.
It works for a while.
You fit in. You perform. You get approval.
But somewhere underneath, there is a steady ache:
“I am here… but not really as me.”
Authenticity is not about sharing everything with everyone.
It is about slowly lining up your outer story with your inner reality.
Letting your words, your choices, and your life feel a little more like you
and a little less like the script you inherited.
Some teachers talk about a moment when they stopped seeing themselves as machines to optimize
and started seeing themselves as conscious beings to listen to.
That shift is the heart of authenticity.
It sounds like:
“I am allowed to change my mind.”
“I do not believe that anymore, even if it used to fit.”
“This is who I am now, even if it surprises people.”
Love, in this sense, is letting your true self have a say
instead of always handing the mic to your fear of rejection.