Being genuine is the greatest thing you can ever do for someone else. I write this as I just came home from the bar, so bare with me on any poor syntax errors and whatnot. At the bar tonight, this girl comes up to me, pulls me aside, holds my hands, and looks into my eyes, she then proceeded to make my night. “I just wanted to tell you that I love your blog and that I thought about messaging you on Facebook about it but that would be weird”. Made my entire night. So much so that I have to write about it. And so what, maybe I’m just happy that a pretty girl said she liked my blog, let me just have this.
Being genuine is like baring your soul to another individual. It’s as if you’re putting aside any preconceptions of yourself and letting someone know what you’re about. And although on paper it may seem easy and common, I don’t think it is at all. In our day and age, to get ahead in the world it’s about who* you know, not what* you know. This puts an emphasis on individuals to make connections to advance their standing in life, through pretending to have some forced chemistry with another person. It’s a well known belief that in the world of professional industry coworkers rarely actually trust each other (or so movies have taught me).
Finding that balance of being a genuine person and a person that talks too much about themselves is difficult though. In all honesty, I really struggle with this line. How exactly can you present your feelings to someone without telling too much. That’s a question that really has no legitimate answer. But all I know is that when I decide to not be genuine, I regret it. I get caught in situations I’m not prepared for, I lose friends, and I just end up disliking myself and asking “what if”. (If you’re reading this, and you know I’m talking about you, I promise we will talk about this).
But being genuine happens. It happens everyday between best friends, couples, parents and children, and other intimate relationships. And I think people take this for granted. You’re not meant to have intimate relationships with everybody but a simple compliment or a discussion of ideas can go along way in your personal well-being and whoever you’re talking to. Being genuine and expressing the genuineness is what creates art. It’s what sells novels in this day of film and television. Being genuine is what late night talk show hosts bet their careers on, as commentators of our culture and society. Being genuine is what creates those conversations late at night when you learn about that person and more importantly, you learn about yourself. Being genuine is your key to a world of healthy relationships and experiences, you just have to learn to trust yourself first.
