image

Being genuine: Unfiltered.

February 6th, 2010 | 3 comments | Unfiltered

When I was younger, I used to tell little white lies. A lot.

I knew it was wrong, sure, but it was fun. My little lies made my world that much better, that much more interesting, that much more awesome than the kids across the street.

The problem was, I sucked at it. I could never remember who I had lied to and who I had told the truth to. My dad gave me a little nugget of advice one day when I slipped up: “Sydney, you shouldn’t lie. You know it’s wrong, yes, but you suck at it. If you always tell the truth, you’ll never have to remember the lie you told originally.” Okay, so I don’t know if that’s exactly what he said, verbatim, but that was the gist of it. I sucked at lying.

So one day I just decided to be genuine. About everything. All the time. And I think it has served me well.

With me, what you see is what you get. I don’t sugar-coat it. Though I have different versions of Sydney for different occasions, different environments, even for different people, what you see here is real. I will always jump up and down when I get really excited – be it for a client event, a new love interest, or finding $10 in my old coat pocket. I will always have a handshake that’s borderline too firm for a lady. I will always say please and thank you, sometimes to the point of it being annoying. I will always be me.

To better gauge what “genuine” means to everybody, I asked “When you think of being genuine, what comes to mind?” Here are some answers from around the community:

  • “Speaking from the heart” – Philip Nowak
  • “A diamond instead of CZ?” – Becky
  • “Eyes and a smile that match. The smile is genuine if the eyes match in warmth.” – My mom

What is genuine to you? Are there principles you live by that keep you in check?

Tags:

  • justatitch

    I really love what you said at the end—I agree that there are different versions of “me” but they will always include tearing up easily whether I am happy or sad, shamelessly rapping along to terrible hip hop and laughing loudly. I think that knowing who you are and staying true to that is so important. Great post, Sydney!

  • http://doniree.com doniree

    Well done, lady. Well done.

  • driftingfocus

    I too used to tell a lot of white lies. Now I practice what I've jokingly dubbed “radical honesty”. Unless I feel that it will seriously hurt someone's job or family, I tell the truth. In practicing this, I have found that many people really do prefer the lies, which really kind of saddens me, to be honest.