💋Self-Expression: My New Small Obsession. Sex'n'fries Podcast Episode 27

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What Authenticity Really Looks Like (And Why We Keep Getting It Wrong)

“Authenticity” is one of those words we throw around like glitter — cute, sparkly, everywhere… but what does it actually mean?

It’s easy to post a quote about self-love or type “be your true self” in a caption.It’s harder to speak your truth when it might disappoint someone.It’s harder to show up when you’re tired, messy, overwhelmed, or just not okay today.

Authenticity doesn’t mean spilling your guts online or broadcasting every emotion. It doesn’t mean radical transparency. It doesn’t mean perfection.

Authenticity is giving yourself permission to exist exactly as you are — messy, contradictory, human.

Sometimes that looks like setting boundaries.

Sometimes it looks like dancing like an idiot in your kitchen. Sometimes it looks like telling someone, “I don’t have it in me today,” without following it with “sorry.”

That is real. That is honest. That is you being alive.

Are We Expressing Ourselves… or Performing It?

Ready for the kicker? Even authenticity has become performative.

We curate our vulnerability. We filter our realness. We post “authentic moments” that took 17 tries and the right lighting.

And honestly?That’s okay.Awareness is part of the work.

The goal isn’t flawless honesty — it’s permission.

Permission to be real. Permission to mess up. Permission to laugh at how weird being human actually is. Permission to exist without pretending you have it all figured out.

Self-Expression Is a Form of Healing

Self-expression isn’t superficial — it’s survival.

Whether it’s through:✨ Clothes✨ Art✨ Music✨ Writing✨ Makeup✨ Tattoos✨ Dancing✨ Or the ritual of making your morning coffee

Every form of expression reminds you:You exist outside of the roles you play.

Mother. Partner. Boss. Friend. Caregiver.Those roles matter — but they are not you.

Self-expression is how we return to ourselves.It’s how we remember what feels like us.It’s how we breathe again.

That’s not ego.That’s embodiment.

So wear the bold lipstick.Post the weird poem.Sing too loud in the car.Let people see the parts of you that are unpolished and unedited.

Those are the pieces that make you real. Those are the pieces that connect us.

Final Fry Thought 🍟

Self-expression doesn’t need to be pretty. It just needs to be honest.

Let’s stop chasing “authenticity” as an aesthetic and start living it as a practice —with grace, laughter, boundaries, and maybe a little glitter.

Life’s heaviest moments?They often make the best material for a good laugh, a good cry,and a damn good story.