Showing your true self is an act of bravery. It is also incredibly liberating.
I have spent a lot of time the last few years working on this in my own life, though it’s something I’ve actually worked on my ENTIRE life. Society teaches us to be careful about showing our true self, and many of us go through our day “false facing the world.” We put on a kind of mask or false persona to try to be accepted by the world.
We think by presenting ourselves a certain way, the world will accept us. This is a set-up, of course, because some part of the world will always be in opposition to us. We have been taught to be afraid of what is different and to want everyone to look and act like us. Then some unscrupulous leaders stoke these fears for their own personal gains. We have to grow up and know better.
This summer on the DCI Summer of Learning webinars, I kept hearing this word “Authentic” over and over in all kinds of contexts. It feels like an awakening in our culture…the broader culture AND in our smaller marching arts world. People realize that their students and colleagues respond in dramatic ways when they are brave and show their authentic self.
The real blessing here is that when we show our students our authentic self, we give them permission to be their own best and real self. What a gift, and what a lesson for those students. “You are okay, just as you are, exactly who you are.”
I remember my band director, David Coles, who gave me this gift of acceptance when I was a junior in high school. It literally changed my life. Each day I work to continue this journey, to be brave and express my true self authentically in every moment of my life, and I see the world responding with joy and acceptance.
Be brave, be authentic, and reap the benefits. What a gift to your students!
Tim Hinton, Sept. 19, 2020
Image by Flex Comics
