1. March 2007 | 1 WCAS Boston College Woods College of Advancing Studies Being Your Authentic Self Alumni Association Dean’s Series February 15, 2016

2. March 2007 | 2 WCAS Introduction  I want to be my AUTHENTIC SELF?  ‘But what do we mean when we say that?  “Masquerade! Paper Faces on Parade, Every Face a Different Shade, Hide your face so the world will never find you.” Lloyd Webber  2

3. March 2007 | 3 WCAS What the Psychologist’s say…. Positive Psychology Organizational Psychology  3 Dr. Martin Seligman: –cultivating strengths and virtues –Focusing on meaning and purpose Four Pillars –Self Awareness –Relational Transparency (Genuineness) –Balanced Processing (Fair Minded) – Internalized Moral Perspective (Ethical Action) Analytical Psychology Making conscious what is unconscious to us Working through the tendency toward self denigrating Working through tendency to giving in to urges/drives

4. March 2007 | 4 WCAS And the Philosophers  4 Existentialism “degree to which one is true to one's own personality, spirit, or character, despite external pressures”. Sartre resist the “pressure to appear to be a certain kind of person, the pressure to adopt a particular mode of living, the pressure to ignore one's own moral and aesthetic objections in order to have a more comfortable existence” Nietzche “… elevates himself over others in order to transcend the limits of conventional morality in an attempt to decide for oneself about good and evil, without regard for the virtues Music philosophy of various subculture be that subculture jazz, hip hop, punk, house, techno or show tunes, being authentic in this sense is the opposite of being a poser or “try hard” Soren Kierkegaard the authentic person, “… must make an active choice to surrender to something that goes beyond comprehension, a leap of faith into the religious.”

5. March 2007 | 5 WCAS Authenticity in reality  5  “… inverse correlation between one’s sensitivity to what others think of them and the ability to be authentic. …  Very often, our actions in a given moment are intended to avoid certain consequences. And so we alter or mitigate our communications or behavior …  These tendencies diminish our authenticity and they constrain our growth and self-esteem.” Schwartz, LICSW  Movement from: –what was once a suspicion of one's inner voice or internal narrative … in favor of some external objective good as the standard to live by  to … –a focus on personal feelings as the guide to right and wrong coupled with … the “inner moral authority of some pure inner voice” found in “each person’s unique inner self”. Brooks ‘Road to Character’

6. March 2007 | 6 WCAS Another approach…  Judeo-Christian, Jesuit Environment  environment that asks of us to be reflective and discerning, but also persons of decision and action  self-in-relationship, self as it appreciates the world and Other.  lens is a faith stance, i.e., that our deepest, truest beliefs, our thirsts and hungers are in relation to and in communion with one another and the ultimate Other, God  we are faced by the overwhelming nature of caring while being challenged by the world around us, frequently without feeling the support we need to live that authentic self.  6

7. March 2007 | 7 WCAS Where we are at today Vs Know Thyself  7 Subjectivism –takes something about every human being i.e., unique and unrepeatable, and emphasizes to point of distortion but failing to emphasize the complementary truth that every individual is part of a larger community; personal identity comes from both self and community Objectivism –that human knowledge and values are objective: they exist and are determined by the nature of reality, to be discovered by one's mind, and are not created by the thoughts one has

8. March 2007 | 8 WCAS Know Thy Self  Self-knowledge is achieved through studied awareness of activities one engages in, –first and foremost, through the workings of our minds  genuine self-knowledge is not only possible but attainable –learn how to be keen and judicious observers of ourselves  self-knowledge through relationship –i.e., we observe the world, others with whom we interact; through our relationships. –aspects of the truth about ourselves revealed –we weave what we observe into how we reflect upon it and act. –How St. Ignatius came to a deeper understanding of his call, his vocation, and to a deeper spiritual life  8

9. March 2007 | 9 WCAS Fuller Self knowledge  To live more fully into a life of virtue … leads to happiness.  How do we attain to such virtue?  Virtue is: –enabling capacity which allows us to act well on a consistent basis.  First a permanent possession;  Second, put in place only after dedicating a consistent effort on our part  Formed by habitually acting in accord with the virtue we want to develop. (Good moral habits)  9

10. March 2007 | 10 WCAS Temperance Example  Triggering Events –Reflection –Creating a strategy ahead of time  TEARS –Thoughts –Emotions –Actions –Reactions (positive and negative) –Strategy  10

11. March 2007 | 11 WCAS For All and For the Christian  For ALL –Practice of virtue requires the capacity uniquely human REASON –to come to know ourselves, –to reflect, –to discern the choice of action, –to act in accord with that reflection on what is morally good, causes us to be happy –we will be performing human good and doing so in a thoughtful, continuous way.  For the Christian, it will be a life lived in a way that offers an answer to “What makes for a meaningful life in a particular way?” (Rohlheiser)  The principle runs through all life (Lewis) – Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. –Keep back nothing in the practice of Virtue –You will be your truest you. –You will be happy. –You will be whole.  You will be AUTHENTIC.  11