The IMAGE model
Authenticity
Authenticity
the natural authority in our words and actions when we are true to our purpose and deliver what we promise.
Authenticity is synonymous with Integrity in the sense of a “state of being whole and undivided". Being authentic is our most natural state though often contrary to our conditioning. What is authentic for each of us is something only we can know and stay true to. Authenticity helps us choose to what we should devote our energy and in making that choice we invest what we do with meaning and live ‘on purpose’. We actively engage in the making of meaning when we choose authenticity; each begets the other. Achieving authenticity in one's own life is possibly the most profound and rewarding occupation any of us can engage in.
The experience of authenticity is also sometimes described as 'being true to your self'. Truth is a tough one, the subject of much personal searching and philosophical enquiry. Psychologist and author Dr David Fontana in his book 'The Meditator’s Handbook’ writes "like Jung, I take the view that when we move into this kind of debate, the test of 'truth' is usefulness. Any concept which helps our inner growth is 'true' until we progress to a point were something more useful is needed".
Finding meaning and purpose is a lifelong process, one through which we are constantly journeying and discovering. What is true for us changes as we mature and so change we must. There is also an element of conscious choice at work; what we invest with meaning becomes meaningful. Guided by our values, purpose is in effect directed energy; a condition in which intention is formed internally and then takes external form through deliberate action. My sense is that our ultimate meaning lies in consciousness itself and our capacity to express ourselves through purpose.
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