Modified: September 27, 2021
authentic
This page is from my personal notes, and has not been specifically reviewed for public consumption. It might be incomplete, wrong, outdated, or stupid. Caveat lector.A paradox maybe worth remembering: if I want to build a conscious identity around something, then I have to be willing to feel inauthentic.
Why? Building an identity means changing my current identity. And whenever you change your current identity, it will always be possible to look at the new identity and say, "This is not who I am." It will always be possible to look at many years of past evidence and say that my new story about my identity is not consistent with that evidence.
Whenever you build a new identity, you'll always be able to see that identity as inauthentic, at least at first. Eventually, if you work to keep up that identity and act that way, even if it feels inauthentic, you'll build up a record of evidence, and then, when you look back, your new identity will be of someone who made a successful change. And that will be consistent with all of the evidence, and it will feel authentic and good.