Insights into Living an Authentic Life

I have been interested in the concept of Authenticity since I started reading the philosophy of Martin Heidegger my junior year of college. His work inevitably led me to Eastern philosophies such as Zen Buddhism and Taoism. The wisdom in these works is incredible, and at the time I was intellectually drawn to them. I researched, read and discussed, but did literally nothing to change the way I was living. Recently, my choice to neglect my spiritual side has caught up with me and now I find myself actively seeking a more Authentic way of Being, not so I can write a good philosophy paper for a class, but so that I can achieve personal insights and awareness about the true nature of Being. I want to stop feeling so restless and angry and anxious. I want peace and joy in my life and want to spread it to others. My intellectual endeavors have led me to the realization that if these are truly my goals then I must transform my way of seeing the world and act in accordance with my own spirit and mind. So this blog is an attempt to merge my studies with my current practice and to share them with all of you (all 5 or 6 of you who read this...haha....thank you by the way!).

What has stuck with me most about Heidegger's work is his concept of Das Man, or They-Self (I will refer to it as the They-Self because that's how it was presented to me in college). The They-Self is not an individual person, but rather a collective way of knowing. The They-Self prescribes our state-of-mind and determines the possibilities we see open to us. We know the They-Self through social norms and even the conventions of our language. When we are caught up in the They-Self mode of Being we are not freely choosing our own future possibilities. It's as if we are floating along passively allowing decisions to be made for us, without questioning. Take for example the child who asks her mother why people wear shoes.The mother might reply "because that's what people do." This is the They-Self mentality at work. Doing things simply because that's how things are done. I consider our tacit acceptance that we must work at least 5 days a week (or an average of about 40 hours or more per week) in order to somehow earn a little bit of free time (which we call our precious weekends) the work of the They-Self. When did you decide this was a good way to spend most of your time? You could argue and say "well that's just how things are" but that's a non-argument. The real answer is that's how you accept that things are. If enough of us got together and agreed to stop working so much what would happen? Would the world stop turning, or just the world we've gotten used to?

There is always the danger that we may just do the work for the sake of the work. This is where the respect and the love and the devotion come in - that we do it to God, to Christ, and that's why we try to do it as beautifully as possible.

- Mother Theresa

When looked upon in this manner Authenticity is the ability to stop and question the They-Self and decide for oneself whether or not an act is truly meaningful. Let's pretend I was the child who asked about wearing shoes (in a way I am because I used this example in a paper in college). I could press my Mother for better reasons as to why I should wear shoes. She may say "so that you don't cut your feet" or "so that you can avoid callouses." There are plenty of legitimate reasons why wearing shoes is a good idea, and thus I could choose one that suits me Authentically, rather than just accept the answer because that's what one does. Rejecting the They-Self doesn't mean doing everything opposite of the way society does it. It is simply the internal knowledge that your activities are truly your own. That you have thought out the meaning and purpose behind your actions and can honestly tell yourself that you are living in accordance with your own personal values. 

Don't be afraid to stick out in a crowd. Wouldn't this look better if ALL the umbrellas were different colors? I look at this photo and it makes me long for actual diversity in the world. Be the change you want to see ;)

I am in the process of asking more questions like this, but now that I'm 24, married and "independent" from my parents (whatever that means), these questions have gotten more urgent and much harder to answer. I find that through connecting with my spiritual side and listening to my intuitions I'm making choices that lead to more Authentic outcomes. In the past few months alone I have been noticing odd little coincidences that seem to lead me to my next spiritual revelation. I have been paying more attention to my dreams and to odd little encounters with strangers. In doing all of these things I realize how impractical and even illogical it seems at times, but I also recognize that I feel different. I feel lighter and more present. I am taking better care of my relationships and more importantly myself. 


The Buddha once said, "It is better to travel well than to arrive." When I think about how this relates to my life it means that goals and achievements are hollow if we do not get to them Authentically.

Love to everyone. Thanks for reading and please leave comments or share this as you see fit.