Finding Authenticity

“Man’s particular nature is his power to create himself” – Paul Tillich

An important statement by Tillich, who was an existentialist and theologian. The fact is, as we go about living our lives, we find that we are always creating and recreating ourselves. Creating oneself as an authentic person begins, of course, with being honest with oneself, learning to live the honestly examined life, learning to know, accept, and own all that we are and have been and why we are and have been that way. A healthy person is one who lives in the moment; however, our past has been largely responsible for creating who we are in the present, hence the need for the examined life.

The Greek philosopher, Plato, created, in The Republic, the famous “allegory of the cave.” One of its allegorical meanings is the need for a person seeking truth – knowledge of the real – to recognize and discard the illusions in his or her past in order to enter into the community as a whole person, capable of communicating, accepting, healing, loving. Oh yes, and Plato tells us that the person who has reached that state of discarding illusion and becoming whole and authentic is required to bring whatever wisdom has been gained to a world that desperately needs to turn away from the illusory.

I am convinced that many of the problems which mar our lives, that make us hostile or defensive, that cause us to engage in self-destructive behaviors, causing us to put up walls between ourselves and others, making us fail at sustaining relationships, and keeping us from leading truly fulfilling lives, can be changed by learning to be honest with ourselves about ourselves, and by finding the foundations of our real personhood.