The more you dispense the raw truth — even if you have to push yourself to do it — the more successful you’ll be. Being a fount of radical authenticity might feel like a performance at first, but it’ll eventually get easier, more natural.
Rob Brezsny‘s Forecast for Gemini, July 14, 2011
A couple of weeks ago my friend and fellow Gemini, Sam Lam, took Rob Brezsny’s weekly forecast as an opportunity to challenge me on Twitter to two weeks of Radical Authenticity.
Of course I was up for the challenge!
Now what you may not know about me is that I’m a bit of a word nerd.
I take words very seriously.
I had to ask myself why Rob Brezney used the particular words of Radical Authenticity and not say…Transformational Truth or Being the Real You…or any other phrase for that matter.
I have been pondering: what does Radical Authenticity really mean?
Radical
I have a fondness – a soft spot if you will – for the word Radical.
It may be rooted in how it peppered my 80s teen years when anything interesting or intriguing was “RAD” or “That’s RADICAL, man!”
I continued to nurture that fondness as I worked hard at being viewed as Radical in my university activist days. Being a Radical or Lefty was far more preferable to being labeled as liberal.
So I’m down with Radical, which I take to mean being progressive — breaking through tradition, conformity and convention.
Authenticity
But Authenticity — that is where I get tripped up.
In the Bay Area the term authentic is much overused – and misused in my opinion – as a license to do whatever you want. I am all for free will but not without being mindful of the consequences of your choices and actions.
Just because you say you’re authentic does not mean that you’re being received as authentic.
So how do I determine if I am being truly authentic?
It’s not really a quantifiable quality.
Unlike priceless artwork, I don’t come with a Certificate of Authenticity.
But what if I could certify my intention for authenticity?
What would my Certificate of Authenticity state about the current embodiment of Jo Crawford?
Yes, I would paint a picture bursting with color, texture and layered in meaning.
That is who I truly am.
Now that’s RADICALLY AUTHENTIC, baby!
What would your Certificate of Radical Authenticity state?
Hi, I'm Jo Crawford of Crafting the Sacred. I help creatives manifest the work they love with equal parts 
Jo, I just love your Certificate of Authenticity!! Made me giggle, but is also so right and honest. Too clever.
Wonderful! I love this Jo!
p.s. I am also a fan of the word “radical”, and embraced this word in my activist university days as well…
This is, as always, so brilliant! I’m honored to be working alongside you, sis.
Being a Gemini, I’m also a nerd of course, so I love the parsing of words. Interestingly, I parse these two words in almost the opposite direction. I think that with the varied and stark facets of my identity–whether it be race, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, religion-culture, gender, profession, or so on–I have been almost forced in spite of myself to confront selfhood and authenticity. I have been working on authenticity for some years now almost as a matter of survival, and through an alchemical process of analyzing (solve) and synthesizing (coagula) these bits of myself, which are in some ways more distinct than for most other people, I have made this thing called Sam Lam. I think you know that people around me have a clear sense of who Sam Lam is. I think I have a distinctive voice (literally and figuratively). Sam Lam sounds something like Eternal Affirmation and Optimism, Kneejerk Idealism, Unbounded Visions for the Race and Planet, and so forth.
But where my struggle has always been, and it is a huge, huge, huge struggle, is the RADICAL part. As you know, I’ve only recently embraced myself as a progressive and radical, and now I gladly do. But I always wanted to play by the rules. In a paradoxical way, that may have been the impetus behind the synthesis Authenticity project I described above: I was trying to appease so many masters that I finally realized that I had to do that in a new, uniquely Sam Lam mode.
For many years when I was involved with various spiritual groups in L.A. and the Bay Area, whether it be the church I grew up in, the OSOGD, or whatever else, I was always trying to find The Right Way to Do Things. And now I feel this drive, energy pouring out from me, to express myself not just into the world, but through the world, to shatter the world. This radical thing is very new for me. I think my fear of having people dislike me has tripped me up for a while. I’m now getting better practiced at it.
Or rather, I’m getting practiced at being sincere and compassionate, but also realizing that sometimes that’s not enough for people, and that That’s Not My Fault.
I thank you for your thoughts and your wisdom! I feel that our Radical Authenticity co-project was a success, and I expect to continue musing on what Radical Authenticity means to me for some weeks if not months, years to come.
Michelle & Kristen — Glad my word nerdiness was well-received
Sam — Thank you for expanding on your process. I love your description of what it is to be Sam Lam…I would add earnestly exuberant.
It’s been a gift seeing you come into your radical authentic self and worrying less about what others think. A far cry from the Sam Lam I first met around the time of Water Feature incident (10+ years back?). Thanks for being an inspiration!
Wow, 10 years *high five*
We just needed to get into the flow
Yes, I very much remember _Water Feature incident_! That was in 2001, so yes, about 10 years! I can’t believe it’s been that long.
*laughs* – this is just awesome, Jo – I love your certificate of authenticity.
I think I’m still figuring out exactly what “authenticity” is for me… but you’ve definitely got me thinking!
Blessings
TANJA