Authenticity & Spontaneity
By: Loser S Thoughts
Tags: Spontaneity, Authenticity, Definition, Genuine

We, the younger generations of America, have championed a lot of much needed change, shed light on a lot of taboo topics, and created incredible new trends of sincerity and emotion. But we don’t get everything right, as is the case with everyone. Sometimes what we think is progress, is actually a damaging degradation of healthy values. It can become easy to assume that the way forward is away from anything backward, but this is not always accurate. Sometimes the greatest progress comes from a return to the past — to the old ways. It is always good to remember history and that which came before, but in some instances it’s even better to actually return to history.

The saying goes that those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it — but for certain areas, this can be a good thing. An example could be the high value placed on family in the past, which seems to be diminishing as of late. It would be a healthy step if we chose to once again value family as highly as we once did, even though it may limit our ability to do other things. However, a higher value of family is not the purpose of the article. The point to this article is to simply observe an area of society that we may need to take a step backward in. That specific area is the idea of what is authentic, and how the definition is being reshaped is actually reshaping our culture.

Sincerity is slowly being redefined into a different concept. It appears that spontaneity and authenticity are slowly becoming melded together: the idea that what is genuine is more frequently unplanned, and what is unplanned is more genuine. This means that genuity is slowly becoming synonymous with what is spontaneous in the grand march of progress. This most likely stems from a higher value being placed on emotions and feelings than in previous generations. As mentioned before, family was a higher value, but so was not talking about problems and feelings as much. In this regard, our culture is normalizing feelings in a healthy way, bringing about an important progression in a previously stagnant area. However, it comes with its own difficulties. Some feelings are given too high a value, and others are vastly under-appreciated as it stands now.

Spontaneity comes primarily from a sudden feeling or emotion — a paroxysm of emotion. In this sudden surge of feelings and emotions, many things may be done or said — good or bad. The good things that occur in these moments are often referred to as being “from the heart”, meaning it was genuine and sincere. People are often “moved” by such acts, such powerful displays of emotion. However, when something negative comes out of an emotional paroxysm, it is often rejected by the offender. After a negative emotional paroxysm, the person who lashed out often rejects their actions by claims of “I didn’t mean it” or “I just got carried away” followed by an apology (if you’re lucky). So, in the event of a positive paroxysm, we praise it as the highest form of sincerity and authenticity; but a negative paroxysm is rejected in belief that it wasn’t heartfelt. This creates an obvious inconsistency in value.

Inconsistency will always occur when too high a value is placed on subjective things. Feelings are entirely subjective, which is why it becomes a problem to base anything at all on them; for instance a relationship, or a career. This brings us to the problem of amalgamating authenticity and spontaneity. Authenticity is itself a fairly subjective concept, since it is when something is truly what it is said to be — true to itself. So the problem then is not that authenticity and spontaneity are related, but that too high a value is being placed on the spontaneous side of authenticity — too much weight to one side. The other side of authenticity is the prepared, pre-planned, and pre-thought out side. There are some moments where this side of authenticity is truly appreciated: best man speeches, and anniversary dates are good examples. However, there are a lot of examples where it is seen as being fake. If a person tells the same story twice in the same words and way, it becomes less genuine in the eyes and ears of the listeners. If a church message is heard both services, people are disappointed if they find it the same exact message, now feeling that it was less authentic. Someone else could be seen as disingenuous if they are unable to explain their passions on the spot, even though they could write it out very well, with time. Each of these is an example of times when authenticity and spontaneity have been too closely associated. Spontaneity is not the measure of authenticity. It can bring out genuine feelings, but spontaneity is not the meter by which we can judge how authentic something or someone is. Remember that.