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“Where some people have a self, most people have a void, because they are too busy in wasting their vital creative energy…actualising a concept of what they should be like rather than actualising their potentiality as a human being”
Personal authenticity gives meaning to life, for being real creates real connections. Being ashamed of who you are makes you look to others to tell you who you are. You put on a mask, and as George Orwell wrote in his essay ‘Shooting An Elephant’, you grow into the mask. But it’s a false self, and this fills you with shame. There is an existential sense of insecurity when we stand alone as our real selves, but we are not alone when we imitate or conform. Learning to activate and actualise our real selves is one of life’s hardest and most valuable lessons.