What do the terms “self-reliance,” “self-actualization” and “authenticity" mean to me?

Self-Reliance 

Ralph Waldo Emerson in his essays plays a significant role in defining the meaning and conception of self-reliance. Scholars regard it as one of the most influential pieces that he has ever worked on. The central point driven by Emerson is that individuals should not ignore the inner whispers which can be clouded by the outside influences such as self-doubt. Emerson further asked individuals to believe in their private thought and to speak their latent conviction (Emerson, 2012). From Emerson's self-reliance discussion, I perceived that the concept asks individuals to be sure about the abilities and convictions. However, in some instances, believing in one's thought can be problematic especially if personal failures accumulate. Self-reliance acts individuals to remain brave in following their beliefs. 

Most importantly, self-reliance plays a fundamental role in building knowledge about oneself. First, it asks people to believe in their conceptions, beliefs, and assertions thus building on personal trust. Once successful, the individual can further develop their skills through such brave thoughts. For instance, Emerson's essay was a significant factor to successfully undertake a basic life support practice on one of my friends who had fainted while playing rugby. Although I did not have much knowledge on first aid, I was confident that the knowledge I had acquired from the movies would help save his life. I proceeded and conducted a thorough first aid based on my perceptions. I was surprised that he eventually regained his consciousness thus providing me with the leverage to pursue a part-time course in basic life support. 

Self-Actualization 

According to Abraham Maslow, self-actualization is the final stage in the psychological development of an individual where a person attains fulfillment needs such as the meaning and essence of life. According to my understanding, persons are described to be self-actualized if they have the capacity and power to do all that is within their realms. Maslow was guided by the fact that people are always changing and as such, no one remains static. Some of the characteristics that self-actualized people depict include the ability to look at life objectively, the perception of reality, tolerance of uncertainty, and a deep sense of concern towards the welfare of the community. Therefore, self-actualization will come when one understands their purpose as human beings and further figure out their position as human beings in the broader social dispensation. 

Self-actualization and knowledge of oneself are two concepts that are in a constant relationship. First, it remains fundamental to note that self-actualization is about accepting oneself and the position one occupies in the society. Secondly, the individual will show a profound appreciation of various life experiences that have or are yet to happen. In essence, self-actualization only occurs when an individual has already appreciated who they are and the role they play in the broader societal dispensation. Self-actualized people, therefore, begin by understanding their self and how they interact with the society around them. It would hence be accurate to note that self-actualization begins with in-depth knowledge that transcends from the self to the person's environment. 

Authenticity 

Existentialists believe that experiences such as guilt and anxiety are significant because they reveal the fundamental realities about the condition of humans. In understanding authenticity, existentialists provide an outlook of inauthenticity which involves individuals refusing to take responsibility for their lives. According to my understanding, authenticity involves the characteristic of showing truthfulness to oneself. Existentialists believe that successful people are those who show their actual values and traits while interacting with various social forces within the community. It calls on people to live a life in which they have a passion for and where they best depict characteristics that provide their real identity. On the contrary, inauthentic life would be characterized by individuals who are easy to conform to various factors and forces without consulting their inner-held values. It would amount to fakeness and can be seen in a host of human activities such as dressing, speaking, and general behavior. 

Just like the other concepts, authenticity and personal knowledge have a strong relationship. According to the existentialist, "becoming authentic is, first of all, a matter of lucidity grasping the seriousness of your own existence as an individual…and facing up the task of making something of your own life." They go on by asserting that "the only way to succeed in becoming a self is by living in such a way that you have infinite passion in your life." It, therefore, means that the only way to perceive, appreciate, and experience the utmost self-knowledge is by living an authentic life. More importantly, authenticity is a way of expression that reflects knowledge about oneself. 

Approximation of the Concepts 

Self-Reliance 

As noted earlier, self-reliance is about trusting one's beliefs and inner thoughts and using them as a means of executing various roles and functions in life. However, the most critical question to ask is how an individual can determine their level of self-reliance. In the book, “Dream from My Father,” former United States President provides an outlook of how he managed to leverage his self-reliance skills after living a better majority of his young life with an ever-absent father (Obama, 2007). The self-reliant skills he picks while growing up become crucial to his life for two significant reasons. First, he manages to overcome the influence of drugs and secondly, he gains an identity as an athlete and begins playing basketball for his high school. Therefore, one method Obama used to approximate his level of self-reliance was through his capacity to make decisions. Although he was technically raised by a single parent, he managed to trust in his abilities that assisted him to overcome drugs and establish an identity in sports. With this, he had gained knowledge about himself through self-reliance. 

Similarly, Thoreau in his book “Civil Disobedience” discusses the need to focus on an individual’s conscience rather than the dictates of the law. Thoreau plays a fundamental role in explaining the role that the government has in implicating individual’s self-reliance. According to Thoreau, people have an obligation to do whatever they believe is right and refuse any temptation to follow the views of the majority. Thoreau exemplifies the need to remain self-reliant by giving a story where he refused to pay taxes and instead, spent the rest of his night in jail (Thoreau & MacLeish, 2016). Therefore, Thoreau provides the readers with a new way of approximating self-reliance. Through his story, autonomy and mental liberties remain two of the most important characteristics that will determine whether an individual is self-reliant or not. He also believes that self-reliance can be measured by how well an individual can assume responsibility and especially when the government of the day fails to perform their duty. It is only when an individual can practice their self-reliant abilities is when they can understand knowledge about their skills. 

Self-Actualization 

The second fundamental concept discussed is self-actualization. As earlier noted, people develop not only physically, but also psychologically. The self-actualization comes as the last psychological step where an individual has attained the essence and meaning of life. The story provided in “The Sun Also Rises” illuminates various characters seeking self-actualization. Individuals are in a constant search the meaning of life and the ultimate fulfillment. However, the only problem is that they do not have the means to find it. Jake Barnes is an embodiment of self-actualization in the story. He operates differently from the other First World War veterans. Although he is also an occasional drinker, he shows more awareness of life and assesses issues objectively (Hemingway, 1954). Through the story, it becomes apparent that one of the methods to approximate the level of self-actualization by evaluating the level of objectiveness in thought and how well an individual perceives the essence of their lives. 

Most importantly, self-actualization is about getting the answers about some of the accomplishments and failures that an individual experienced throughout their lives. It is in this regard that Maslow perceived that the stage comes towards the apex end of an individual's life. The "In Country" is a significant story that explains the process of acquiring self-actualization in individuals. Bobbie Ann Mason gives a tale of a young woman and her uncle on a mission to heal the scars following their exploits in the Vietnam War. The two characters including Sam and Earnest visit the Veterans Memorial in search for answers about the Vietnam War (Mason, 2005). Therefore, part of self-actualization involves acquiring answers to some of the most challenging questions in life and thereby attaining the much-needed mental peace. Thus, a good way to approximate self-actualization would be to find out the knowledge that an individual has about their life and the rationality with which they assess such scenarios. 

Authenticity 

Existentialists opined that the best way an individual can express themselves fully is by living an authentic life. Authenticity is based on showing true values and traits while interacting in the social environment. The "The Girls in My Town" by Angela Morales is a collection of childhood literary materials that can help perceive the meaning and essence of authenticity in life. Through various depictions, the girls in the book are willing to live an authentic life that best reflects their values and traits. In an instant, Morales explains how the girl children demanded to learn how to wash dishes just like the boys did (Morales, 2012). It, therefore, helps in perceiving the first approximate of authenticity; the urge to express one's desires. Authentic people will not wait to follow the bandwagon but will instead remain keen to show their intrinsic values and perceptions without an external influence. The girls are inclined to living an authentic life by symbolically expressing their identity through dishwashing. As such, by doing so, they can leverage self-knowledge and further work towards improving their most profound abilities. 

In his poem "Annabel Lee," Edgar Allan Poe decries the fact that he loses his wife whom he utterly loved. In doing so, he expresses on not his feelings and the values that he had for the woman (Poe, Annabel Lee). As such, this gives the second way to approximate authenticity through expression. Showing the true inner feelings about an event, whether sad or joyous builds on a person's authenticity and removes them from the life of faking. Another major exemplification of authenticity is portrayed in the poem "Song of Myself” by Walt Whiteman. Here, he focuses on himself assessing his life and some of the characteristics that make him unique (Whitman, 1965). Part of his discussion on the poem involves debunking what people say about him and exclusively focusing on his strengths. 

Obstacles 

Self-reliance, self-actualization, and authenticity are three psychological aspects essential in the realization of self-knowledge. They are important because they drive an individual towards achieving their most desired goals. Also, their criticality draws from the fact that they give individuals an impetus to overcome some of their daily challenges. However, several obstacles can implicate an individual's likelihood to achieve one or more of these essential human attributes. The constraints can be classified as social, cultural, personal, and political. 

Social Obstacles 

Social obstacles are factors that come as a result of human being's daily interaction within their social environment. Self-reliance can significantly suffer when an individual adheres to social codes and norms. Societies have various traditions that individuals are required to follow with little consideration of internal beliefs, values, and perceptions. Standards, codes, and traditions cause what is known as the bandwagon effect that robs people their sense of self and the opportunity at expression. For instance, back in high school, I had a friend whose family did not believe in working on Saturdays due to religious beliefs. Therefore, whenever we had exams on Mondays, he only had one day of the weekend to read and that was Sunday. However, this was contrary to the personal beliefs of the individual who felt that reading was not part of working. Therefore, due to the social obstacles, his ideas were significantly ignored. 

Similarly, social norms and codes an affect authenticity by forcing an individual to conform to behaviors, values, and traits that they do not approve. Such people only act in a certain way because the society perceives it is right to do so. Therefore, this denies them a chance to show their true selves and most fundamentally, to develop knowledge regarding who they are. Thirdly, the conventional social order can affect self-actualization in one significant way. Self-actualization means understanding the meaning and essence of life. However, when one is embedded in the social norms, they tend not to achieve a holistic notion of life and the significant prerequisites and ingredients required to attain the status of self-actualization. 

Cultural factors 

Just like the society, the culture in which an individual emanates can have norms and traditions that affect the attributes in the way already explained. However, unlike the society, culture is a system of beliefs, perceptions, and values common among a group of people that determine the way of life. In many instances, cultures come with prejudices, stereotypes, and misogynies that interfere with the realization of the three vital aspects. For instance, take a culture that significantly believes in gender roles and the institution of patriarchy. In such a system, the position of women is usually relegated at the expense of the man’s. Therefore, the beliefs and inner thoughts of females can easily be disregarded leading to a lack of self-reliance. For example, many women perceive that they should have equal pay because they perform work in the same way that men do. However, this has since become a far-distant reality because the traditional beliefs of gender roles have thwarted any attempts that would cause women to fight for equal pay. 

A misogynic culture will also affect women’s authenticity because they will unnecessarily portray a sense of weakness, feebleness, and general inability whereas in the real sense, they are more than capable. Also, women can find it difficult to air their views and express their desires feeling that it might go against the predetermined cultural institutions and tenets. The impact, therefore, is a systematic lack of the ability to depict true traits and characters. Lastly, a patriarchal culture will also affect a women's ability to experience self-actualization. As stated earlier, any restriction towards a full experience of life will implicate a person's ability to attain the meaning and essence of life. 

Political 

Thoreau in his book “Civil Disobedience” discusses how an individual’s ability to express their beliefs and inner thoughts can be implicated by an unruly government. A government that fails to pay attention to the intrinsic needs of its citizens is not worth remaining in power. Therefore, aggressive and dictatorial governments that do not consider the essence of human rights deny the citizens a chance to express their aspirations, conceptions, and beliefs among others. As such, this affects self-reliance as citizens are reduced to puppets of the inefficient regime. Authenticity will be implicated especially when the political atmosphere does not approve of any other idea other than the one promoted by the government. Such dictatorial tendencies and the lack of democracy might compel an individual to shape their perceptions to coincide with that of the system in place. Therefore, such a climate will also affect self-actualization due to a systematic lack of freedom, the space to learn, and the opportunity at exploration. 

Personal 

Lastly, personal obstacles including preferences, stereotypes, prejudices, religion, perceptions, level of education, and worldviews among others can also prevent one from achieving self-reliance, authenticity, and self-actualization. For instance, certain individuals naturally prefer to be shown the direction in every decision or endeavor. They neither believe in their perceptions nor inner thoughts. As such, this kind of preference can lead an individual towards a lack of self-reliance. When a person has negative perceptions about say their race or ethnic affiliation, they might want to behave in a different way that reflects the particular race or ethnic background they wish to be. As a result, their personal stereotypes and prejudices will have affected their authenticity and perceptions about the self. Lastly, self-actualization can come under jeopardy if an individual has perceptions about certain limitations and weaknesses that implicate their ability to answer questions about their lives. 

References 

Emerson, R. W. (2012). Self-reliance and other essays. Courier Corporation. 

Hemingway, E. (1954). The Sun Also Rises. 1926. New York: Scribner’s, 954. 

Mason, B. A. (2005). In Country. 1985. NY: Harper Perennial. 

Morales, A. (2012). The Girls in My Town. Southwest Review, 97(2), 167-183. 

Obama, B. (2007). Dreams from my father: A story of race and inheritance. Canongate Books. 

Poe, E. A., Arko, A., & Berger, A. (1995). Edgar Allan Poe. Sterling Publishing Company. 

Thoreau, H. D., & MacLeish, A. (2016). Civil disobedience (p. 228). Virginia Tech. 

Whitman, W. (1965). Leaves of grass. Airmont Publishing Company.