We want to express ourselves clearly, truthfully, authentically. We want our art to feel as natural as our heroes’ arts. We want to flow our true hearts out to other hearts.
As with most things, it doesn’t look the same from the outside as it is on the inside and truth is not the same as “just being honest”
The inner workings are complicated
While Taraji P. Henson is a true badass and a bold personality who can be intimidating on screen, my interaction with her was sweet and almost timid. She spent time in a dark corner rehearsing her lines with a coach and smiling at kind people on set. She was in charge of a whole production based around her personality. The work she did for the world was very different from what the audience sees.
If she were to show up being the give-no-fucks character she portrays on TV sometimes, the result would be very different and, I’m betting, would betray the truth of who she is.
Truth tellers are lying
When someone calls themself a truth teller, the words they say might stand up to fact checking, but the resulting perceived message is usually way off. I could describe a dog as “an animal who’s most important feature is it’s nose. It is more than 10k times more sensitive than a human’s.” the listener might picture an aardvark and would have a very different impression than how a normal person in the know would picture a dog – cute, domesticated, mammal, smart, friendly.
It’s important for our mental health
It’s important for us as creatives to remember that this stuff is weird and we’re doing it right when authenticity feels artificial. Just being publicly seen and being vulnerable to so many is unnatural. We need to employ unnatural methods to do it right.
Take Action: : Get perspective
Journal write down an admired artist. Imagine one real day in their life. when they wake up, how they eat, what their actual work looks like. Are they spending all their time letting their imagine turn to craft, or are they bumming around and trying to find a pigment? Waiting for the piano tuner to show up and trimming their own hair? Being pissed off about some other artist? Trying to figure out why noone is buying from them?