Authentic Self Quotes

It's only when we are authentic to who we are that we are going to be truly happy. It's so important that we follow what our own heart is telling us, what our own intuition is telling us, what our passion is, where our heart wants to go. When we can truly explore who we are, that's when the world just explodes with possibilities. ~ Caroline A. Shearer

The closer you come to your authentic self, the simpler everything becomes. Listen to your intuition. It will tell you who you are. ~ Vironika Tugaleva

We all dream of being exactly what we are – powerful, beautiful, and worthy. ~ Vironika Tugaleva

I've always tried to stay true to my authentic self. ~ Katie Couric

If you are feeling constrained by a group that you belong to, ask yourself,
"How can I participate in this community and still be who I am? ~ Gina Greenlee

My early self-portraits appeared effortlessly and seemed like equivalents for my deeper emotions. Many critics remarked that the images had an almost other-worldly haunting presence. For me, they were simply my own reality at that point in my life. What I was trying to reveal was my inner soul in all its fragile complexity. Without knowing it, I was trying to peel back the layers that shroud and bind us all as we struggle to reveal our own authentic selves. ~ Joyce Tenneson

Being your authentic self exudes a quiet confidence. ~ Sam Owen

Our work is not to become unique. We are unique. Our work is to unleash our sense of adventure and to allow the inner whisper that says "come hither" to be reason enough to go. ~ Vironika Tugaleva

Our self-respect tracks our choices. Every time we act in harmony with our authentic self and our heart, we earn our respect. It is that simple. Every choice matters. ~ Don Coppersmith

I don't think anyone's sexuality needs to be a public issue other than to give others the confidence to love themselves wholeheartedly and to be their true, authentic self without any shame. ~ Crystal Bowersox

Embrace your individuality by embracing your authentic self. Go deeper to develop a relationship with yourself. Accept who you are; because self-love requires discipline. Create a life that you know is yours - the key to a better you is perseverance. ~ Charlena E. Jackson

Do your fears warn of external dangers? Or, are they the kind that keep you from becoming more of your true self? ~ Gina Greenlee

Life is not a test administered by ourselves or a higher authority, and we're not in form to learn lessons. We're here to thrive, to celebrate being our authentic selves until it literally kills us. ~ S. Kelley Harrell

Meditation is about mindfulness and learning to strip away the illusion, revealing your authentic self and connectedness to everything and everyone. ~ Nanette Mathews

It's not easy being yourself because it can invite envy and attention. But if you hide your authentic self from the rest of the world, a unique life will pass you by. There is splendor in being true to yourself. ~ Margot Datz

If you pretend abundance when in fact you are in need, those who would aid you will not because they will either believe you to be abundant or recognize your pretense and consider you to be unworthy. ~ Wu Wei

We all see very clearly in others tendencies which we, ourselves, have overcome. The older and wiser we grow, the more we can see the arrogance of youth. The more authentic we become, the more we can see the lies of insecurity. The more vulnerable we allow ourselves to be, the more we see the dangerous symptoms of unexpressed emotions.

There is no finish line to learning.

There is no point where we're done growing, and all we will ever do is look down upon others who are behind us. No one is ever at the top. We are all growing at our own rates, and no matter how terrible or how enlightened we fancy ourselves to be today, the future will be sure to give us a different perspective.

There is really no use in comparing yourself to others. There will always be someone ahead and someone behind, and there will be dozens (if not hundreds) of different scales and gradients to be behind and ahead on.

To be number one is never final. It is and always will be a momentary, fleeting instant. But to be a growing version of yourself? That, you can be. You can be that every single day. ~ Vironika Tugaleva

I need to be startlingly clear. This thing of finding your authentic voice, expressing your blessed weirdness and revealing your soul isn't an elegant process. You don't do it to be cool. You don't do it to get laid or get rich. It's only real when it is ruthless, relentless and inevitable. But it is also a matter of personal and collective survival. Yes, it's that important. You are that critical. ~ Jacob Nordby

Inherent in every living thing is an insatiable hunger, the innate desire to express life by freely and fully being "what" it was uniquely created to be. To personalize this, consider the possibility that there was a time when you were a "what" before you were a "who." If you can wrap your mind around that possibility, then, the question to explore is, what were you before you became a who - and why did you become the who you uniquely are when there are so many other "who"s on the planet you might have been? While this may seem like a bit of a paradoxi- cal tongue twister, it is the quintessential question that requires exploration if you are to follow your true North Star back to your point of origin, where you'll find your authentic self waiting to weave itself into the fabric of your human life today and every day. ~ Dennis Merritt Jones

What if we choose not to do the things we are supposed to do? The principal gain is a sense of an authentic act – and an authentic life. It may be a short one, but it is an authentic one, and that's a lot better than those short lives full of boredom. The principal loss is security. Another is respect from the community. But you gain the respect of another community, the one that is worth having the respect of. ~ Stanley Keleman

When you step into your power and your true authentic self, you shine. You shine so brightly that the world tries to keep up. ~ Shannon Kaiser

There is a difference between working hard to create a life that truly serves you
and working hard to create a life that you've been told you should want. ~ Vironika Tugaleva

Authenticity is the sine qua non of everything that matters. When you encounter someone unguarded, without artifice or pretense--Mon Dieu!--you know it. I compare it to being at the top of the mountain: the air is clearer, there's nothing to muddy the senses. It's bracingly refreshing. ~ Ellen Lubin-Sherman

Many of us have unconsciously erected barriers to protect ourselves from failing or succeeding. We may think we're protecting ourselves by denying our creative impulses, but all we're doing is burying our authentic selves alive. ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach

You cannot experience the fullness of your authentic self or life when you live to avoid hurt. You will never know the joy of love or the peaceful satisfaction of being loved if you hide from hurt. ~ Iyanla Vanzant

An awakened mind
and heart will serve
you well. Rigidity stalls
upward progress. Be as
expansive as you can.
Even when you think
you've reached your
limit, there's more to
unlearn and relearn. ~ Kristen Lee

We can reach untainted experiential freedom, by living in the moment as it is - without contemplation. Here we find the possibility of freedom - of just being - living as our authentic self. We are our true nature. We are one and whole. ~ Jacqueline Simon Gunn

Don't believe everything you think. Our minds are thought-creating machines. Most of these thoughts are fear-based. Our authentic self has the power to pick the thoughts that best serve us and those we lead. ~ Henna Inam

You entered into a Socratic dialogue in order to change; the object of the exercise was to create a new, more authentic self. ~ Karen Armstrong

Some people think the real them is whoever they are when they're not around other people. ~ Garth Risk Hallberg

When you stop living your life based on what others think of you real life begins. At that moment, you will finally see the door of self acceptance opened. ~ Shannon L. Alder

Being your authentic self is the ultimate secret to happiness in life! ~ Sheri Fink

Passion will always move you in the direction of your authentic self. ~ Danielle LaPorte

GET OFF the paved path.
It's way too BASIC for you.
There's AIR to BREATHE.
Oceans to FLOAT in.
Dances to be DANCED.
Songs to SING.
Splendor to BEHOLD.
Stop WAITING for PERMISSION. ~ Kristen Lee

Be your authentic self! Who you truly are; not who you learned to be. ~ Deborah Day

There are no self made heroes or leaders. No matter how rugged or self assured, everyone requires a cast of players - friends, mentors, lovers, critics, villains and supporters - who call, invite, seduce, goad and encourage them to finally step into their true power.
We are all heroes and leaders in some way, and we all need each other. ~ Jacob Nordby

I love my husband very much. I knew it was real true love because I felt like I could be myself around that person. Your true, true innermost authentic self, the stuff you don't let anyone else see, if you can be that way with that person, I think that that's real love. ~ Idina Menzel

Always aim to be authentic in all that you do or aspire to. ~ Steven Redhead

Most of us think that being authentic is about being true to what we want and who we are, without regard for the impact it has on others. On the contrary, the authentic self is an intelligence at the core of who we are that is inspired, centered, and connected to those we lead. When we are in this centered place of being we are able to choose behavior that serves the greatest good. ~ Henna Inam

The most important therapeutic capacity is the ability to be present with an open heart and to be grounded in our inner being,in our essence and authentic self, in the meditative quality within, through which we can meet another person. It is to meet that which is already perfect within a person. ~ Swami Dhyan Giten

It is a myth to believe that we will find our authentic self after we have left behind or forgotten one thing or another . . . To make our selves, to shape a form from various elements – that is the task! The task of a sculptor! Of a productive human being! ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

To persevere is one thing, but to push on ignoring your intuition is something quite different. Self-awareness is the practice of learning the difference. ~ Vironika Tugaleva

When we see others beginning to live their authentic selves, it drives us crazy if we have not lived out our own. ~ Steven Pressfield

Our deepest calling is to grow into our own authentic self-hood, whether or not it conforms to some image of who we ought to be. As we do so, we will not only find the joy that every human being seeks
we will also find our path of authentic service in the world. ~ Parker J. Palmer

Only when a child's authenticity is threatened do they develop unhealthy behaviors, distorted reality perceptions, and emotional difficulties. When you force a child to do what they don't want to do, feel what they don't feel, and think what they don't think, their authentic self becomes damaged. ~ Darius Cikanavicius

When you become your authentic self, fear disappears and abundance manifests. ~ Shane Reynolds

Within our core self is an indelible blueprint of unrivaled individuality - the singular being that each of us exists to express. In this three-dimensional movie called "Life" there are no stand-ins, body doubles, or understudies - no one can fill in for us by proxy! Realization of this truth alone eliminates the need to imitate, conform, limit, or betray our loyalty to the originality of Self. Imagine the relief of removing your carefully crafted masks fashioned by societal forms of conditioning and instead responding to what comes into your experience directly from your Authentic Self. One of the first principles to honor in your relationship with yourself is to respect and trust your own inner voice. This form of trust is the way of the heart, the epitome of well-being. ~ Michael Bernard Beckwith

It's a funny thing, how it works...
The moment we stop trying so hard to be someone, we become ourselves--only what was there all along, waiting and peeking out from behind all the masks we wore.
And when this happens, we discover that Who We Really Are is much greater than anything we might have pretended or even hoped to be. ~ Jacob Nordby

When we continue to devalue our inherent needs, when we begin to reduce ourselves as a person in order to stay in a relationship, we are essentially agreeing to limit our potential and anesthetize our authentic self in the name of love or a sense of duty born of our investment in the connections we have formed. ~ Stephanee Killen

Love is not an exclusive relationship with another person; love is the quality that arises when we are in contact with our inner being, with our authentic self, with the meditative quality within, with the inner silence and emptiness. This inner emptiness is experienced by others and is expressed on the outside as love. This love is not addressed to a specific person; it is a presence and quality that surrounds a person like a fragrance. ~ Swami Dhyan Giten

False humility is a form of psychosis which was imprinted on most of us since birth. It is a mental illness because it locks us in a victim state of keeping our light turned down, denying who we really are and silently begging for permission to simply show up as ourselves in the world. But there is good news. This is a jail whose lock is broken. We can walk free whenever we know the truth, and by so doing we show others an example of an end to madness. An example of freedom. ~ Jacob Nordby

You must push through the negativity and self-criticism that dam up your creativity and just let it flow. Be your authentic self. Write or sing or dance or paint with your whole being, without guardedness or cynicism and without trying to second-guess an audience. ~ Felicity Everett

When we continuously
snuggle up to antiquated
ideas, we shut our eyes
against the light of our
potential. ~ Kristen Lee

An authentic life facing reality without mental equivocation is the simplest type of life. ~ Kilroy J. Oldster

Authentic leadership is a whole body experience. Our bodies have a lot more to teach us about ourselves than our thoughts. ~ Henna Inam

Few experiences are more satisfying than becoming someone we always imagined we could be. ~ Gina Greenlee

Each person reveals himself by what he says and does, by the way he dresses, by the way he responds to events, by what he reads and watches, and generally by the way he lives life. By observing anyone, you can see what that person is like. ~ Wu Wei

At the individual level, the great controlling myth of our time has been the belief that within each of us there is a real, inner, private 'self', long buried beneath layers of socialization and attempted cultural and religious control, and needing to be rediscovered if we are to live authentic lives. When we 'discover' this 'true authentic self' , we must do whatever it dictates, even if it means ignoring the norms of the 'unenlightened' society all around us. ~ N. T. Wright

Just be your authentic self because there's nothing sexier or more beautiful than that. ~ Carol Leifer

When children have shame-based parents, they identify with them. This is the first step in the child's internalizing shame because the children carry their parent's shame. ABANDONMENT: THE LEGACY OF BROKEN MUTUALITY Shame is internalized when one is abandoned. Abandonment is the precise term to describe how one loses one's authentic self and ceases to exist psychologically. Children cannot know who they are without reflective mirrors. Mirroring is done by one's primary caregivers and is crucial in the first years of life. Abandonment includes the loss of mirroring. Parents who are shut down emotionally (all shame-based parents) cannot mirror and affirm their children's emotions. ~ John Bradshaw

Being your authentic and unapologetic self… Now that's courage, confidence, and self-love! Never underestimate yourself… There's great power in simply being YOU. ~ Stephanie Lahart

The most precious gift that you can give to the child is unconditional love and acceptance, which allows the child to discover his own inner being, his authentic self, his freedom to be himself. ~ Swami Dhyan Giten

Stop letting people
shove you into the
binary. There's not
enough room for your
soul to fit into the narrow
box being forced upon
you. ~ Kristen Lee

Authenticity heals. It's real, but messy. ~ Darlene Lancer

Shame is internalized when one is abandoned. Abandonment is the precise term to describe how one loses one's authentic self and ceases to exist psychologically. ~ John Bradshaw

Inspiration is the quickest shortcut to discovering and practicing embracing our authentic selves. ~ Elaina Marie

It's ok to reinvent yourself as many times as it takes to live out your most authentic self. ~ Nikki Rowe

One of the telltale signs of one who has completely embraced their authentic self is that they are, with great consistency, the same person in public as they are behind closed doors. Until you learn how to access your authentic voice, the uniqueness of who you truly are will never be fully realized. What makes you special (just like everyone else) is that you were placed here on this planet to express the one-of-a-kind being only you can be. ~ Dennis Merritt Jones

If you are a woman, if you're a person of colour, if you are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, if you are a person of size, if you are a person od intelligence, if you are a person of integrity, then you are considered a minority in this world.

And it's going to be really hard to find messages of self-love and support anywhere. Especially women's and gay men's culture. It's all about how you have to look a certain way or else you're worthless. You know when you look in the mirror and you think 'oh, I'm so fat, I'm so old, I'm so ugly', don't you know, that's not your authentic self? But that is billions upon billions of dollars of advertising, magazines, movies, billboards, all geared to make you feel shitty about yourself so that you will take your hard earned money and spend it at the mall on some turn-around creme that doesn't turn around shit.

When you don't have self-esteem you will hesitate before you do anything in your life. You will hesitate to go for the job you really wanna go for, you will hesitate to ask for a raise, you will hesitate to call yourself an American, you will hesitate to report a rape, you will hesitate to defend yourself when you are discriminated against because of your race, your sexuality, your size, your gender. You will hesitate to vote, you will hesitate to dream. For us to have self-esteem is truly an act of revolution and our revolution is long overdue. ~ Margaret Cho

During your whole life you practiced every moment to become what you believe you are right now. You practiced until it became automatic. And when you start practicing something new, when you change what you believe you are, your whole life is going to change. If you practice being impeccable with your word, if you don't take anything personally, if you don't make assumptions, you are going to break thousands of agreements that keep you trapped in the dream of hell. Very soon, what you agree to believe will become the choice of your authentic self, not the choice of the image of yourself that you thought you were. ~ Miguel Ruiz

We believe that it is the job of each of us to step outside of ourselves, look beyond the shadows, and seek reality. If we hope to present an authentic self to the world, it is critical that we understand what is real and true about ourselves. So how do we begin to see our companies, our brands, our products, or ourselves as we really are ? For us, the best way to start is to stop watching shadows and start facing reality. ~ Tom Hayes

Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It's about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen. ~ Brene Brown

Love looks to the eternal. Love is indeed "ecstasy," not in the sense of a moment of intoxication, but rather as a journey, an on-going exodus out of the closed inward-looking self toward its liberation through self-giving ... toward authentic self-discovery and indeed the discovery of God ... ~ Pope Benedict XVI

And what we can see if we look deep within is that the authentic self is the Soul made visible. Do not try to remake yourself into something you're not. Just try making the best of what God made. The sacred art and craft of nurturing our souls and the souls of those we love is Simple Abundance soulcraft. Begin today by turning on the Light. ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach

Most of us want to be authentic. Yet, we are not who we think we are. We are made up of a rich array of facets and possibilities, many of which we ignore because we label them as "bad". We create a cardboard cutout image of ourselves to look good to others. The discord between who we are and the image we have to live up to slowly kills our aliveness. When we suppress parts of ourselves, it lowers our mojo, sense of fulfillment, leadership effectiveness and impact in the workplace. ~ Henna Inam

Where is your water? Know your garden. ~ Hopi Teaching

Authenticity soothes the soul. ~ Arthur P. Ciaramicoli

Authentic leadership is the full expression of "me" for the benefit of "we". ~ Henna Inam

The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are. ~ C. G. Jung

Should is how other people want us to live our lives. It's all of the expectations that others layer upon us.

Sometimes, Shoulds are small, seemingly innocuous, and easily accommodated. "You should listen to that song," for example. At other times, Shoulds are highly influential systems of thought that pressure and, at their most destructive, coerce us to live our lives differently.

When we choose Should, we're choosing to live our life for someone or something other than ourselves. The journey to Should can be smooth, the rewards can seem clear, and the options are often plentiful.

Must is different. Must is who we are, what we believe, and what we do when we are alone with our truest, most authentic self. It's that which calls to us most deeply. It's our convictions, our passions, our deepest held urges and desires - unavoidable, undeniable, and inexplicable. Unlike Should, Must doesn't accept compromises.

Must is when we stop conforming to other people's ideals and start connecting to our own - and this allows us to cultivate our full potential as individuals. To choose Must is to say yes to hard work and constant effort, to say yes to a journey without a road map or guarantees, and in so doing, to say yes to what Joseph Campbell called "the experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonance within our innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of be ~ Elle Luna

I find that while each partner might have needed some specific coaching, the real tests we faced were basically the same, season after season. We had to learn to move as a team. We had to master complex, carefully timed choreography. We had to face the hot lights and live action and the idea that millions of eyes were upon us. But beyond that, I needed to inspire and instill confidence in each person I coached and danced with. I needed to communicate with an open heart and empathetic, encouraging words. I had to critique usefully and praise strategically. I also needed to be my authentic self--exposing my personal vulnerabilities to win their trust. Ultimately, I had to make each of my partners embrace not just me, but also her own sill and power. Every partner I've danced with has it within them to kick ass and climb mountains. When you put yourself in a situation when you're vulnerable, that's when your power is revealed. And it's always there; it's part of your DNA. It's like a woman walking into a room looking for the diamond necklace and realizing it's around her neck. I'm not changing any of these ladies; I'm helping them rediscover themselves.
And truth be told, that was never my goal. I never walked into a studio thinking, I'm going to transform this person's life. I'm no therapist! I was just trying to put some damn routines together! But I realized after all these seasons that the dance is a metaphor for the journey. Every one of my partners has had a very diff ~ Derek Hough

This ego has all the desires, ambitions, wants to be always on the top of everything. You are exploited by this ego. And this never allows you even a glimpse of your real authentic self, and your life is there, in your authenticity. Hence, this ego only produces misery, suffering, fighting, frustration, madness, suicide, murder - all kinds of crime. ~ Rajneesh

One of the great things about wrestling is how it interrogates this silly idea that you have one authentic self. ~ John Darnielle

In this moment
Do not wait to be beautiful. Be your beautiful, authentic self right now.
If the world offers up negativity and despair, surprise the world by giving back love and kindness. Send out the energy that you wish to experience, and you are certain to experience it.

Happiness and fulfillment are alive in this moment. Allow them to flow freely and creatively through your life.
Fall in love all over again with the miracle of being. Your imagination is great and magnificent, yet it cannot hold even a fraction of the possibilities.

You'll do, say and act your best when you feel your best. Feel the limitless wonder of this very moment.
Be beautiful, alive, aware and filled with the energy of the possible. In this moment, is every dream made and fulfilled ~ Ralph S. Marston Jr.

Life is sacred. Life is art. Life is sacred art. The art of sacred living means being a holy actor, acting from the soul rather than the ego. The soul is out of space and time and hence always available, an ever-present potential of our being. It is up to each of us to celebrate and to actualize our being and to turn each meal, conversation, outfit, letter, and so on, into art. Every mundane activity is an opportunity for full authentic self-expression. The soul is our artistic self, our capacity for transforming every dimension of our lives into art and theater. ~ Gabrielle Roth

You cannot fail at being yourself. A cat doesn't try to be a tiger, and you shouldn't try to be something you aren't. You are a process, not a product. Your job is to discover what you are and create that creature. You still won't be perfect, but success isn't about perfection-it is about authenticity. You are a success if you are being your real, authentic self. ~ Bernie Siegel

But reality is erratic. Surprising. Elegant. We will never earn a respite from all of the things in our lives encouraging us to grow, pushing us to make difficult choices or to strengthen our resolve. There is always something demanding more of us - demanding more of our authentic selves. What is this authentic self? I believe it is the part of us that knows our true capabilities. It knows the desires of our heart, and the strength of our spirit - and life is going to keep offering us the opportunity to get it right (even if it just so happens to kill us in the meantime). ~ Stephanee Killen

I always felt like if I lived in true authentic self-expression and lived in service and in support of many other people, I would be exempt from having to deal with yet another crisis in my life. I was wrong. ~ Debbie Ford

Our being is more important than our doing. We are human beings, acting as though we are human doings. In our frenzied doing, we are often not conscious of our state of being. Yet our deepest impact comes from our state of being because it is at the root of our intentions, our choices, and our behavior. ~ Henna Inam

What if by sheer repetition we become the person we most often pretend to be? Does that mean there is no authentic self? Are we made of habits, compressed by time, like layered rocks? ~ Ben Okri

Stop searching for wizards
and wands. Don't buy into
the belief that you don't
have the brains, heart, and
courage to make it. Link
arms with your fellow travelers
and never let go. Hold
each other up so that you
can see your own magic. ~ Kristen Lee

The idea of "the authentic self," and how everyone is always talking about "being yourself," and how when you're yourself you get friends or you get boyfriends, and until you're yourself you don't. It's a crazy idea, because who's self would you otherwise be being? That relationship between constructed identities and identities that feel authentic to you is really fascinating to me. I think about it a lot. ~ John Green

I feel inauthentic at a party ... Going to a party is a 'low' activity - the authentic self is compromised, fragmented - one plays 'roles.' One isn't fully present, beyond role-playing. One doesn't (can't) tell the full truth, which means one is lying, even if one doesn't literally tell lies. ~ Susan Sontag

The biggest mistake people make when trying to be authentic is just that: they try. They see these role models of what an "authentic" person is supposed to look like or act like, and they try to emulate that.

Authenticity isn't about what things appear to be. It's about allowing things to be what they are. Authenticity is about getting away from hiding, from wearing a mask, from always asking, "How should I act? What should I say? What will people think?" That includes asking, "How should an authentic person act? What would a genuine person say?"

Being authentic isn't about making yourself a certain way. It's not even about finding out what you "really" enjoy as opposed to what other people enjoy, or who you "really" are as opposed to who other people are. Authenticity is allowing your likes, dislikes, personality, appearance, hobbies, and beliefs to be fluid, to change, to evolve as you learn, grow, and experience the world.

At its core, authenticity is the practice of surrendering the tiresome task of keeping up appearances and taking up of the lifetime work of allowing what is already within you to come out while you remove as many internal and external obstacles as possible.

And who knows what will spill out of you if you just allow it to? Who knows what is within you awaiting recognition, awaiting permission to show itself to the world? Even you don't know - until you try. Or, rather, until you stop trying. Until you become cu ~ Vironika Tugaleva

Comparing yourself to others is an act of violence against your authentic self. ~ Iyanla Vanzant

Embracing your authentic self is medicine for the soul. ~ April WIlliams

Busyness allows us to avoid the deepest questions of our souls. It keeps us at arm's length from our truest, most authentic selves. And when we don't know our deepest, most authentic selves, we can't know what work and what role God has for us in this world. In fact, when we don't know our deepest, most authentic selves, we don't really God, because it is God who creates our innermost selves, and it's God who invites this authentic self into deep relationship with him. ~ Michelle DeRusha

We all perform our lives in a way. And the actor is a perfect metaphor to get at that theme of 'how do we find our authentic selves?' And that we all - whether we're actors or not - perform ourselves. As a way of searching. As a way of fumbling around and trying to say, is this my voice? Is this who I am? ~ Annette Bening

The effort to discover an authentic self, to strip away layers of alienation and culturally imposed identity and find a soul in a clear, unimpeded communion with the sacred is consonant with spiritual quests throughout the ages. Spiritual feminists, no less than medieval mystics, are searching in the ways made available to them through their culture to separate themselves from everything in their hearts and minds that puts them at odds with the divine plan (and therefore with their own best interests), and to find a true harmony between themselves and the universe. ~ Cynthia Eller

Love accepts a human being as she is. Love creates the freedom for a human being to be who she is. Love creates the relaxation, which helps a person to relax into her own inner being, into her own authentic self. Love allows us to appreciate the beautiful being we already are. ~ Swami Dhyan Giten