Authenticity: A Joy to Behold Yourself or A Joy to Experience with Others

One of the eudonic rewards, the rewards that bring surges of pleasure even when its a rainy day and the heater is broken is authenticity. Right now Igor, Brian, Lynda and I are developing a course for graduate students in the health professions at UCSF called EBT for Healers. It's our introductory Wired for Joy course, plus six additional activities that encourage the experience of each of the six rewards: sanctuary, authenticity, vibrancy, integrity, intimacy and spirituality.

On Monday we are focusing on authenticity, and this weekend I've been preparing for Monday's session. When you think about authenticity and how rewarding that is, where does the sense of reward come from? Is it being authentic to yourself, being willing to really feel genuine in your relationship with youself, that great feeling?  Of is it presenting a genuine person, the person you really are, to others?  Where does your joy come from?

Interestingly, the neural circuits of feeling genuine to self and others arouse one another, but when you think about what really motivates you to be authentic is it for the experience of feeling seen by yourself, or is it the experience of noticing that you are authentic with others that makes it worth going the extra step to be that present and aware?