So what is that, my authentic self? Non-authentic, according to the dictionary, is counterfeit, not real, not original. Authentic is original, real, reliable. For me, to be authentic is to be original, from the origin, from the original impulse without a conditioned response. So acting freely appropriate to a situation, without past or future. Without memory or expectation. Without restrictions imposed by cultural or personal norms or learned behaviors.
I often compare how a healthy developed child of two reacts. Without the mental baggage of the adult reading these words now. Spontaneous in the moment. Uninhibited. The child takes, receives and gives freely.
Greek authentikós from the zn. authéntēs “who does himself,” accomplishing with his own hand, enabler. Formed from autós “self” and *héntēs “accomplisher,” involving the first cause, first-hand.
