Narrative vs Authenticity

 Here's the notes I took from the 81 minute youtube video, hopefully they make some sense (despite the fact that I kept getting distracted by the Americans making up and mispronouncing words.)

People strive to be authentic: real (not false).

Key decisions.

Stories are human, authentic. Beneath politics and agenda's- pure humanity.

Authentic self is healthy, narrative can be used to translate authenticity.

Narrative turns chaos into progressive development/evolution.

"Narrative is the trace of the authentic self- rather a sensitive imprint of desires- what we want to be but are not."

Different kinds of storytelling can be empowering/disempowering.

Protagonist has agency over life, antagonist against world, or victim. How centred are the stories around self- who is it with.

Who/where/when affect self.

Stories are powerful.

Conditioned to tell others what they want to hear- less authentic and less transformational.

Stories are often about RELATIONSHIPS- with self and others.

Look for feedback/storytelling as self regulation.

Authentic leaders know themselves and use it in company to create positive ethos, create a creative, energetic environment.

Communities, peer pressure, families detract from authenticity & true self.

Growing up/down- expanding the self then settling down to a final target/self.

Learn the self through asking questions. More questions expand the self.

Narratives can be biased based on expectations- depending on the intent for the story. True self, brokenness, healing, redemption without being too sensationalised.

Authenticity is an ideal state. "Become who you are" paradoxical.

*The early 19th century philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, posthumously regarded as the father of existentialism, maintained that the individual has the sole responsibility for giving one's own life meaning and with living life passionately and sincerely, in spite of many obstacles and distractions including despair, angst, absurdity, choice, boredom, and death." wiki- a set of ideas to categorize human existence.

Objective time: Past, present, future.

Live time: Past is part of present understanding, which is useless without future direction- possibilities are a fuel for life, authentic possibilities vs. preset ones (culture, media).

Threat is absorption into the 'now'- too objective and absorbing.

Your story feels a need to be unique, but relatable. Fits within cultural archetypes.

Facebook is a form of autobiographical storytelling.

Authentic self is possibly only achievable during a small part of your life. Yearning for a full narrative arc.

"conversion stories" See Dante (the changing self., pilgrim->poet).

In moments of crisis, people seem to try to find 'true self.'

People strive for things to make sense. people fill in gaps themselves. Story connects people in a way arguments can't- allow to fill in gaps- however misinterpretation may occur.

Consistent story attitudes can affect self- i.e victim.

Authenticity in interactions can come from connections to people during storytelling.

Authenticity could be a result of dominating one's self?

famous examples: "confessions" autobiography.

Narrative structure are our form of communication, the actions of life in general are also narrative.

Try to fill a consistent role but in different casts.

Authenticity seems to appear during key decisions, or towards end of life- at start or end of business.

gain authenticity by owning up to the past.

One way to view your authentic self is to view the path up until the present in a whole, but also see a future/possibilities too.

From the video I have ascertained that It can often be difficult to retain authenticity when creating a business narrative, and human relationships are often exaggerated or the focus is shifted in favour of the speaker in many cases.

A narrative can often be a powerful form of interaction, and gives the speaker a lot of agency within their telling of a tale- this can result in a feeling of empowerment, however authenticity is also important as one can undermine themselves without adhering to the truth.