The Art of Being Genuine comes through being you.

By definition Genuine is authentic, real, free from pretense, and pure in breed. Anyone who knows me knows I would rather be alone than be in a scenario where I am not around genuine people. I believe that people with a sense of self are automatically able to be genuine. These people will be themselves even if it means going against the grain, their closest friends or what others believe while risking being disliked but in return simply by honoring themselves they are genuinely being. Let me start off by saying that I like you am human and I make mistakes too, genuine ones. ;-) When I find myself in a lesson I would rather not be in I genuinely trust that my idea of what God and the universe are know that I need this lesson to grow. After all I am no where near done growing. I hope I grow until the day I go home. By home I mean the one none of us really know where it is but the one I trust with all my heart is there even if I can't see it. "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." Antoine de Saint-Exupery

But until that day, which I must admit I hope is far away, I will continue to desire to be surrounded by genuine people. I am a big believer that there is no right or wrong way of doing things that said it still is one life so I'd like to live it surrounded by people who have their own identity, honor their individuality and genuinely are who they say they are. After all I by choice am in a business where people sell an image. My friend Danielle was here this weekend and it was our first time meeting in person after having met online. She confessed that when she first started reading my blog she wondered if I was for real. ;-) I'd love to think that it is something she has answered for herself after spending the weekend with me. I most definitely think that I try as best as I can everyday to make my words be proven true simply by being genuinely me, flaws included. I have been blessed with a gut that will not let me go against it even when it means I "loose". In the long run when the journey of my lesson is over I see that I didn't really loose because it's like Dick Vermeil has been quoted as having said, ""The real test comes when you lose."

These days I must confess I struggle with people's claim of who they are because a lot of the time I am finding actions aren't matching their words. Not that I am asking anyone to be perfect but I am simply saying be genuine because if you are genuine you will be you and you will find that Dr. Seuss was right when he said, “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” I love my closest friends because they tell it like it is. While some think what I do for non-profits is great and I am a good person they are by no means under a false pretense that I am in anyway living up to what I consider to be one of the grandest illusions of all, perfect. Anyone want to help me start a petition to have the word taken out of the dictionary? ;-) They are genuine people who abide by what feels right to them and our differences make us grow. When I am sad because once again I have met someone in my line of work who has shown me to be, by my experience with them, the opposite of their words my friends genuinely hear me out as I am once again left to deal with the after math of having faith in people being genuine, being their word. I won't ever give up that faith!! I do hope that people stop hurting themselves by trying to live up to the images people create of them and simply be even at the risk of being disliked.

At the end of the day for me it is of utmost importance that I trust myself, be my own bestfriend, and trust my gut when it tells me something isn't genuine even if it means that I have to let go of a dream or have to face the fact that someone is the opposite of who they said they were, and most of all forgive myself. Why you ask? For having an opinion based on my interactions with them and gut feeling. I really give myself a hard time about that sometimes, like I have in the last twenty-four hours, but at the end of the day I am grateful my gut sounds the alarm when it knows something isn't what it claims to be and cautions me to proceed carefully even if the rest of the world has bought into it being something it isn't. I can't follow anything or anyone other than my own gut because God is my compass & that enables me to trust that I am being guided to exactly what is best for me! Again even if it means leaving behind what I wish was for what is...simply GENUINE. I'm not afraid of not being liked because trust me I can name at least five people who I know of who don't like me including the cast member who yelled at me backstage last year an hour before curtain because I stood up for myself and for what I believe in, which she in return believed disrespected her and yelled at me to apologize. I calmly declined to and stood firmly in my belief because like Jefferson said, In matters of style swim with the current; in matters of principle stand like a rock. I will be standing firmly in the principle that if you claim you are something or a certain way through your words that they become your actions. As I have always said, Show me don't tell me and I'll add what one of my most genuine friends, Jen Marie says "when people show you who they are believe them." I believe she is quoting Maya Angelou.

I will leave you with this song and quote. If you made it this far I hope you can make it through this brillant song which I use to exit the stage after I finish my monologue in The Art of Being at exactly 3:18. Listen to what she says because yes I am scared as hell but I trust that being genuine will lead me to that something better she sings about and I believe I am my worst enemy when I listen to anyone but me and my gut. Think about this quote which I hope inspires you to follow your inner compass and guides you to authencity because no matter what anyone claims to be in the end in my view of the world, you can cheat others, even yourself but you can't cheat God and the universe...it knows your intent and in the end you only cheat yourself. “There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. It is the only true guide you will ever have. And if you cannot hear it, you will all of your life spend your days on the ends of strings that somebody else pulls.” Howard Thurman

THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED HERE ARE SIMPLY OF ONE WOMAN AND HER JOURNEY SO PLEASE TAKE WHAT YOU LIKE AND LEAVE THE REST BEHIND.