The definitions of the words ‘Authentic & Genuine’ is simply put: “actual, real, or true.” What’s a genuine or an authentic person? A person who is real. A person who is true to themselves, whoever that may be. A person who is actually themselves in a world full of people who are not. One of the best compliments I have ever gotten was “you are kind. And not only that but genuinely kind, and real.” I am definitely not trying to toot my own horn and being authentic 100% is still an ongoing process for me and forever will be. I’m far far far from being perfectly me. It is a constant effort to not go along with what the world is doing. This blog is one of the biggest ‘authentically me’ things I have EVER done, and it has helped me see more than anything that that is the kind of person I want to be. Ever since starting cosmetology school I have noticed the lack of genuiness our world has. While there are a lot of genuine, amazing people in the beauty industry, there are also a lot of fake people who pretend to be your friend to your face only to talk behind your back, we also have the people hiding their personal interests and struggles in fear of embarrassment. I’m not dissing on the cosmetology world, because honestly it just opened my eyes that its really what the rest of the world is like too. I remember the first day we were doing a get to know you game in class and we went around the room and the typical answer was “I like to do hair or makeup or anything beauty related” and then it came to me and I said “I love to scrapbook, I love to read and write and I absolutely love animals.” Now I know these people were just joking to an extent… maybe? But they made fun of me for saying scrapbooking because that was an “old lady” thing to say. To be honest, I wasn’t offended at all, and I even laughed with them. But it hit me later, why was that something to make fun of? I was real with all of them. I didn’t try to pretend to be someone I wasn’t. Maybe all of them really did just like doing all of that beauty stuff and that is great, but I feel as if that they only said that because it was the right thing to say. Why do we do that? Why do we conform to these molds and only say ‘the right thing to say’ and not something genuinely from our hearts? Well, I learned something that day, I had to be proud of myself and who I was no matter what others thought. That moment started the biggest growth journey I have ever been on, I am more me because of that moment. The funny thing is, after being joked about and made fun of, those same girls wanted to learn to scrapbook. I’d like to think that my authenticity in that moment sparked something. My hope is that it sparked feelings of that it doesn’t matter what others think. That being yourself is always the best option, because if you are real and open, people will want to be around you. No one wants to be around a judgmental person, so when you are true to yourself it shows people that you will look at them and their hobbies, flaws, and quirks without judging them. How do you become more authentically yourself? Stop caring. I know that is easier said than done and like I said before, it’s an ongoing process for me to work on, but we need to get out of our heads that popularity is the key to happiness. It isn’t. I have very few close friends because I chose that. I chose to only keep a few because anyone who doesn’t like me for me, doesn’t have a place in my life. Anyone who isn’t benefiting me in my life, got kicked out. If you want to see who likes you for you, let loose, be crazy, be you… it will weed out all of the bad ones I promise. When someone asks you what you like to do, be honest. Tell them what you truly like to do, even if society thinks they are “weird” things! Who cares?! Life is too short to care!!! The best advice I can give you right now is to love yourself. I have so many self-love posts that you can go back and read but that is where authenticity starts. It’s a major part of it that I am still not the greatest at, but I’ll always keep trying. Always remember that loving yourself is a journey, not a destination. Be you and be proud to be you. We were all born different FOR A REASON!! “When you are authentic, you create a certain energy… people want to be around you because you are unique.’’ –Andie MacDowell Xoxo, Imperfectly Blonde