Practicing Genuine Authenticity When Times Get Tough
Regular readers of our blog know that Plurawl is not just a t-shirt company. Sure, we sell LatinX t-shirts, sweatshirts, coffee mugs, and artwork. But our company wasn't established solely for the purpose of selling stuff. We started Plurawl to nurture and encourage authenticity within the LatinX community.
Several years in, we are pretty happy with where our company is. At the same time, we know a lot of people are struggling right now. The thing about genuine authenticity is that it has a habit of revealing itself when times get tough. Simply put, tough times tend to reveal who we really are in the deepest parts of our beings.
Do you know who you are?
A couple of our more recent blog posts have challenged readers to ask if they really know who they are. How about you? Being genuinely authentic is all about being true to yourself. We get the fact that it can take some time to learn who that person is. But once you figure it out, you can only be truly authentic by being true to that person.
We assume that your Latin heritage is an important part of who you are. So is the Latin culture. Do not be afraid to express that. Don't be afraid to embrace what it means to be part of the LatinX community – past, present, and future. If that means wearing one of our t-shirts to show the world how proud you are of your heritage, go for it.
Do you like who you are?
Knowing who you are is a vital first step in being genuinely authentic. The next step is settling whether you like who you are. This is where going through tough times really matters. Tough times bring out the best and worst in all of us. We like the best; we dislike the worst.
If the real you is someone you like, you'll probably find it easier to be generally authentic in tough times. But what if you don't like the real you? You have a couple of choices. You can continue being that person and hide it from the world or you can start making changes to become the person you want to be.
Actually, there is a third choice: you can authentically be that person you do not like in a very public way. We are guessing the fallout wouldn't be good. Still, the option is there if you want it.
Can others be authentic around you?
It is difficult to have a discussion like this and not bring up our interactions with other people. In our desire to be generally authentic, we should want others to the authentic as well. We should want them to know who they are and like who they are. But once again, tough times intervene.
When things are tough, it is easy to lash out against those whose authenticity contradicts our own. It's easy to alienate people who don't look like us, think like us, or share the same culture and heritage. But how is alienating other people a good thing?
Life is tough right now. A lot of people are having a challenging time. If you are one of them, now is the time to give some serious thought to genuine authenticity. These tough times will bring out the best and worst in all of us, and that includes you. Just remember that genuine authenticity is more than just a Plurawl t-shirt or sweatshirt. It is knowing who you are, being happy with that person, and striving to become a better version of him or her.