“We live in an atmosphere of shame. We are ashamed of everything that is real about us; ashamed of ourselves, of our relatives, of our incomes, of our accents, of our opinions, of our experience, just as we are ashamed of our naked skins.”

-- George Bernard Shaw

What is authenticity? We may not know how to define it, but we certainly know it when we see it. We gravitate toward people whom we perceive as honest, real and sincere. Authenticity is something we revere in others and strive to maintain in our own lives. We don’t feel good about half-truths, disingenuous connection and fearful silence. We all want to have a clear sense of who we are and what we believe and to feel confident enough to share that with others.

Shame often prevents us from presenting our real selves to the people around us -- it sabotages our efforts to be authentic. How can we be genuine when we are desperately trying to manage and control how others perceive us? How can we be honest with people about our beliefs and, at the same time, tell them what we think they want to hear? How do we stand up for what we believe in when we are trying to make everyone around us feel comfortable so they won’t get angry and put us down?

We cannot share ourselves with others when we see ourselves as flawed and unworthy of connection. It’s impossible to be “real” when we are ashamed of who we are or what we believe.

~ Brené Brown

This was drawn from a longer article. Read Brené Brown’s full text.