Terror is setting your 20-year-old daughter up in her own apartment. She’s a great kid and in the course of two wild weeks this summer, she got accepted into a fantastic program at a different college, decided to transfer and we had to figure out where she’d live.

When it became apparent after much detail wrangling that she would be in an apartment, I found myself blurting out via text or following her around the house delivering the vitals of living on your own: “Don’t put dishwashing liquid in the dishwasher,” I’d say or, “You can’t refreeze something that’s already been frozen,” but my favorite was, “Please ALWAYS lock your doors!” And now she’s there and I’m here. I’m trying not to think about the dishwasher overflowing, the salmonella she’ll get after she refreezes something and I can’t even speak out loud what I’m afraid of if she doesn’t lock her doors. This is my baby for Heaven’s sake.

I remember her first day of Kindergarten, I made my poor husband follow the school bus until the driver actually got out at a stop and told him to go home. Like that first day of school, I know I have to step back and let her go. It’s just so hard. But it’s also exhilarating. I am honored to be a part of her zest for this fresh start. How many of those do you get in a lifetime? She’s taking on the world and even though the world scares the pants off me, I’m working on letting her fly and find her way on her own terms. And I’m realizing that while she works to find herself in this world, I am too! Who am I now that I only have one child at home?

My authenticity is on my mind. See you at Camp Connect to talk more!

My children are fond of the expression "you do you!"  It seems as though it's spoken at least once a day in my house; sometimes with an eye roll and sometimes with a smirk, but in essence, it is said when they want to express their desire to be recognized as unique and distinctly different from me and from each other.

Although I recognize that they are essentially mocking me when they say "you do you Mom", I somehow find it to be endearing.  To me, the expression means that I'm free to be me, and I like the idea of feeling safe being uniquely myself!  That's what authenticity is all about - JUST BEING YOU!

Being your true self may sound wonderful, but what if you've lost touch with who you really are? Sometimes in life we know we are lost, but can't figure out how to find our authentic selves again. I like to think of that time as an opportunity to journey within.  It's an invitation to the beautiful gift of reconnection.

The key to reconnecting with your authentic self is knowing who you really are at your core.  This is a process that begins with identifying your core values and continues with living your life in accordance with those values.  

There are many resources out there to help you identify and clarify your values, but one that I love is the VIA (Values In Action) character strength survey.  The VIA Survey was created under the direction of Dr. Martin Seligman, the founder of Positive Psychology, and has been used in hundreds of research studies and taken by over 5 million people in over 190 countries.  Personally, I've found the results of this survey to be a wonderful tool in assisting with finding and (re)connecting with my authentic self.

If you are interested in learning more about the VIA Survey or taking the survey, you can do so by clicking here.  It's a free resource and the results are available for you to view immediately upon completion.

We are looking forward to talking more about the process of finding and (re)connecting to your authentic self at our Camp Connect, where we will each create our own unique Authenticity Creed.  

We hope to see you there!