On Authenticity

Fight Club has to be one of the most awesome novels I've ever read.Highly profound and eerily prophetic.Though it might be an interesting read even at its face value,it carries many epiphanical life lessons cleverly hidden under the concept of fight club which makes it such a hit with the readers.It tells us how consumerism is taking charge of our life in today's world.How things we own end up owning us.How we were born to be hunters but ended up in a sociey of consumers.Mindblowing.Although initially I thought that this book has a very cynical outlook towards life,I later realised what the author was trying to put across made sense.We really live in a delusional world.We think we are our jobs,the cars we drive,the frickin' sofas we rest our butts on.It's almost as if we are defined as a person by perfect set of clothes or a pair of new shoes,depending on these things to put us in to state of happiness.Is this really who we are?Is this what we really need?In this world where materialism is controlling our lives,we have lost touch with our true self.Which brings me to the concept of authenticity and what it means to be like being "genuinely authentic".


Tyler Durden's quote,"Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken" is one of my favourite quotes ever.Couldn't agree more with it.Buying a new car or a 42 inch plasma TV is not going to change our core value as a person.We are just buying into somebody else's reality,supplicating to get their approval so that we could fit in with everyone.To me,Tyler Durden is epitome of authenticity.But,who is Tyler Durden really and why am I giving you his example here?Who he is can be explained in a single word,which carries almost the same meaning as having absolute authenticity:


FREEDOM.


He's freedom from everything that we hate.He's freedom from everything we want to be but cannot.He's freedom from society which constantly tells us what to wear,what to eat,what to learn,how to act,how to live.He's freedom from expectations that the world throws upon us to behave in a certain way inorder to conform with the masses.We have been brainwashed by the society we live in.Most of us conform out of fear,being afraid of how society will judge us.But while trying to micromanage this,we just shoot ourselves in the foot.We lose our true self.And we end up losing our authenticity.We judge people how the world dictates to us based on their education,family,relationships,lifestyle,etc.We treat homosexuals,transsexuals,hippies and gothic children as outcasts because they have chosen to be who they are inside.We feel they are sick,need to be cured and need to conform.We pursue rhetorical education without giving a thought to it because we are expected by the society to do so.Anything other than that would be 'shameful' or 'humiliating'.We pack into gyms not to stay fit but to get eight pack abs or whatever because Tommy Hilfiger or Calvin Klein said so.We get a pile of new clothes every two months because we feel looking like a rockstar in front of everyone all the time is an absolute requirement.As you sit down and read,ask yourself this.Am I really being authentic?Am I being who I really am inside?Or am I just walking in a trace like everbody,conforming to the society so that I can please everyone?


If the answer to the last question is affirmative,it's time to wake up from the slumber.Find out who you are inside.Follow your passions and be who you need to be inside rather than what society feels is 'normal'.You don't have to worry about the latest gadget you could get your hands on or listening to music you are told to.Do what you feel and live in your freedom.Once you start being who you really are,you'll find yourself happy,loving what you're doing and loving yourself.This is the purest form of authentcity,what I mean by being "genuinely authentic" as a person.


Will this be hard?Will you be judged?Will people hate you?Yes.They will hate you for having the courage to be who you want to be.They will be jealous of you because you're free in all the ways they are not,while they are still trapped in their conforming world.Your life will change,career might change and people in your life might change but this is the time to think for yourself,to be happy.If there are people who love you,genuinely love you,they will always be there with you.