“Authenticity (philosophy)”
– from Wikipedia
In existentialism, authenticity is the degree to which an individual’s actions are congruent with their beliefs and desires, despite external pressures; the conscious self is seen as coming to terms with being in a material world and with encountering external forces, pressures, and influences which are very different from, and other than, itself.
A lack of authenticity is considered in existentialism to be bad faith.
The call of authenticity resonates with the famous instruction by the Oracle of Delphi, “Know thyself.”
But authenticity extends this message: “Don’t merely know thyself – be thyself.”
Going into 2020, this is what I want to focus on, a personal goal, for the next decade.