85. Authenticity Isn't Fixed | It's a Practice, Not a Personality Trait

Authenticity has become such a buzzword that some people are starting to reject it entirely — but what if we've been thinking about it all wrong? In this episode, I'm reframing authenticity as something that isn't a fixed destination you arrive at, but something that shifts depending on the day, the season, and the version of you that showed up this morning.I revisit something my past guest Sasha Feldman (actor-turned-therapist) said that I haven't been able to stop thinking about: that authenticity isn't a general idea, because he's constantly different — sometimes confident, sometimes not. I get real about how I'm actually feeling on the day I'm recording this (not great, if I'm honest), and why showing up in that state is just as authentic as the confident, put-together version of me from last week. I also share a reframe my therapist gave me about anxiety — how a part of me I've resented has actually been helping me all along — and why staying near yourself, even the messy or scared parts, matters more than performing a fixed identity.This one's for anyone who's tired of performing a version of themselves that doesn't leave room for the full range of who they actually are.In This Episode:Why authenticity isn't a fixed destination — it shifts day by dayA reframe from Sasha Feldman: "I can't be authentic as a general idea because I'm constantly different"Getting honest about how I'm actually feeling today, and why that counts as authentic tooA therapy reframe on anxiety — how a part of me I resented has actually been helping meStaying near yourself instead of abandoning yourself when things aren't going perfectlyWhy vulnerability, contradiction, and mess are the material for creative work, not liabilitiesA conversation with Amy Austin on unraveling yourself from what other people expectAuthenticity as a practice of telling the truth about where you are right now, not a state you achieveRESOURCES:Get Messy episode with Sasha FeldmanMy mindset coach, Amy Austin✨Connect with Maddie✨⁠Explore Maddie's Website⁠ | ⁠@messywithmaddie