Sunset at Uluru, one of my many favourite photos of the rock, taken last year. Uluru is a well known Aussie icon. Primarily it is an indigenous sacred site, but in a broader sense it is a well known visual associated with Australia as a country. For us Uluru is as authentic as it gets for an icon, along with the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. But Uluru is a natural wonder. The icons created by human endeavour are sleek, well designed and engineered, repaired and maintained. But Uluru was forged through time, weathered, beaten by the elements, sometimes shedding its skin as layers peeled off. It is old and wise and has many stories to tell, It has scars and wounds to show beneath its grandeur and striking presence.
We are a little like that. Forged through time, we grow and develop, mature. Along the way we are a little weathered, and beaten by the elements. And there are, perhaps, times when we psychologically shed our skin. We may well feel our age, but not many of us would admit to being wise – usually that is a label applied by others who experience us, and yet, in my experience, every person carries a wisdom of their own. And we certainly have many stories to tell, especially because we have wounds and scars that are our story.
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.' "Does it hurt?" Asked the Rabbit. "Sometimes." said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt." "Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?" "It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time yo are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand. Margery Williams Bianco "The Velveteen Rabbit"
Unless we risk love, unless we risk vulnreability, we cannot become, we cannot be, And we cannot be real. The sort of risk I understand is expressed perfectly by the Skin Horse, that we loved and held to the point that we are both hurt and yet whole. But in the main it is our scars and wounds that really make us. They don’t define us, they help make us, help us to become, help us to grow and be authentic.
To be authentic isn’t to be a thing, to be some predetermined you, to be ‘someone’. Authenticity doesn’t come down from the heavens, it isn’t randomly assigned to you. To be authentic is to simply be the you you already are. But you can’t be that person unless you risk the scars and wounds of living, it is a slow thing, it takes a long time, but it is to have lived and to have been real.
As Brene Brown has said: “Authenticity is not something we have or don’t have. It’s a practice – a conscious choice of how we want to live. Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It’s about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen.”
I really like that, “Life is a collection of choices.” and, that it is “a practice, a conscious choice.” Authenticity is something we can do.
Paul,
pvcann.com
parallax 
Beautifully said, Paul.Nature reflects us and vice versa.If only we are wise enough to learn from its beauty.
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Thanks for reflecting on this Megha, appreciated
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Your posts are always so profound and seeded with wisdom.I always end up learning or reflecting something new.
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Megha, many thanks, really appreciate the encouragement.
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My pleasure Paul.
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nice excerpt — I will have to check out that book for my son at story time 🙂 you’re right about children providing a great opportunity for fostering one’s authenticity. Wanted to go see Ayer’s Rock at sunset for decades, but alas never made into the interior of Australia, only the coasts.
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The book is a must. You have time – one day you’ll get to the rock.
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Reblogged this on From 1 Blogger 2 Another.
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Many thanks.
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Paul, you’re welcome!
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Excellent and Beautiful pic☺️💕
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Thank you 🙂
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Very moving and though provoking..really spoke to me.
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Thank you for sharing that, I really appreciate your comment and that ithe post was of some good.
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Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
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Thanks
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Wonderful as ever Paul! Have a great weekend ahead. Never been there, but the rock is a fantastic spiritual monument. Michael
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Michael you must one day visit this rock! You have a wonderful weekend too. Paul
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Very insightful, Paul. All the more relevant in these everything’s-just-for-look days. 🍸
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Thank you for reflecting on this, I really appreciate that insight.
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Lovely
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Thank you
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Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
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🙂
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So true Paul, so true. We are all very unique! And that is GOOD!
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Absolutely love this post!
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Thank you.
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I love that you brought The Velveteen Rabbit to this post. You always do such nice job of weaving life into our everyday steps. Thank you.
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Thanks so much for the encouragement, very kind.
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🙂 Merci – thank you
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Fantastic article and great illustration and metaphor
>
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Thanks for the encouraging comment
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Reblogged this on ashiftinconsciousness and commented:
Keeping it real.
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Thank you
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You’re welcome. Thank you for spreading wisdom. 🙂
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🙂
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Thanks
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