Build your inner home.
The power of authenticity...
It was raining as our Uber drove to the school.
The windows were streaked with droplets furrowing down, racing the rivers of condensation inside. I was excited to have been invited by New York Edge to read Never Less at a middle school in Brooklyn, NY. In the spirit of this after-school program, I wanted to leave the students with something to take away, other than the obvious anti-drug message in the book. I wanted a hook that would intrigue the middle school students and their teachers. I thought I found what I was looking for in my last Geoffrey Letter when I concluded that we need to stay authentic, my point being, it is a path to a dubious truth. Well, that was a point, sharp and penetrating, but not an authentic hook—and more appropriate for my current work in progress.
As the New York edge website says, “the mission is to help bridge the opportunity gap among students in underinvested communities by providing programs designed to improve academic performance, health and wellness, self-confidence, and leadership skills for success in life.”
Their program blurb said, “During the first week of March, over 60 acclaimed children’s book authors represented by Random House, Hachette, Disney and more will visit schools across the city to share their love of storytelling with our students . . .” I therefore felt honored to be included in their Read Across New York Edge Week.
Authenticity however, is a topic that is thrown around and hardly ever defined. Yet the students are enticed into thinking it is reserved for only the highly gifted. I asked the students . . .
What exactly is it?
How do you get it?
What could be more precious that one’s own inner sanctum of privacy? Let’s just call it Home. Authenticity doesn’t start at home, it is your home. It’s not your parent’s, not your sister’s or brother’s, not your grandparent’s home. It’s your very own inner home, I tell them. And you get it by being resilient and building it.
There are many definitions, but Merriam Webster cites the etymological sense of the word authentic that I think aligns well with the modern usage of the word yet originates from Sophocles’ writing: “a person accomplishing something on their own”, making him or her a “doer”. Which is not a far cry from being a “creator”, or fitting in the do-it-yourself movement, which has become somewhat of a mantra for Gen Zers.
How, the questioning student faces ask. And how will I know? I ask them if they like stories. Who of your like to write?
HERE’S A GREAT WAY TO THINK ABOUT AUTHENTICITY: IT’S YOUR INNER HOME. BUILD IT LIKE YOU’RE WRITING A NOVEL
Homes start out as houses that have structure, just like novels. And so, we start building a house novel.
We start with the foundation; the plot. Then we move to the windows and doors; characters who can come and go, look in, walk away. Hang out. Then on to the roof and essential services that connect our lives like plumbing, electric and water. Bikes and the Internet. These are the developmental edits, the copy editing and proofreading; the rigorous revisions that silently reach in and grab the psyche of the reader. And so the metaphor is extended.
Easy-peasy. But not so much. Because both processes—constructing the building and the novel—is a struggle fraught with complication and pitfalls. So, we discuss the need to be resilient, and brave; an endless struggle through this life. We read the passage in Never Less about the power of the hand inside the glove of light:
Peter looks down and clenches his fist then flexes his fingers in front of my eyes. “Power is what drives our actions—it’s like a hand that does things we don’t notice. We take our hands for granted. But our hands don’t work well if we cannot see. In the dark hands can act and react, try to feel, or punch or push, but they are powerless without light. In the light, our hands are guided by understanding. There’re enlightened. So, real power is the glove of light.”
We chat about what enlightened power might mean; the acceptance of people for what they are—we see the power in each other. And when that happens, we include people across a diverse array of gender, gender identity, race, and culture. We become part of an inclusive society. But without the enlightened glove power is faked and blind and in the dark. And dangerous.
Now their question has an answer: When you’ve built your inner “dream” home you have become comfortable being authentic and by inviting friends and others in you build trust and loyalty. Just as Mindy and Pablo did in Never Less.
I leave the students with my wish that they use their well-earned power to build a better world and be a better friend. Their contribution to their world is something they know authentically . . . themselves.
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