Michael Day

“We're all islands shouting lies to each other across seas of misunderstanding.”
― Rudyard Kipling, The Light That Failed

“Authentic relationships always require vulnerability and always the type of vulnerability that at times may feel deeply uncomfortable. Being known and seeking to know others truly. There's a cost in that but that is why there's a value.

Authentic relating is the ability to be with other people and not use a mask to protect yourself. It requires a great deal of courage to be able to present one's weakness and one's strengths without diminishing either one for fear of judgement. Although authentic relating is generally associated with intimate relationships of best friends, family and lovers, authentic relating can also be done with people we only meet once or twice. It is about us being true to ourselves ... through the attitude of our heart, our words and our actions.

Authentic relating requires people who are brutally honest with themselves and each other. It requires a huge amount of self-awareness, laying down of pride and stripping bare. It also requires a good level of self-esteem, to feel confident to be vulnerable.

What does authentic relating mean for you?”
― Sarah Abell, Inside Out: How to Have Authentic Relationships with Everyone in Your Life.

“...when someone is honest and vulnerable, they wring my heart - I want to hug them for being real...”
― John Geddes, A Familiar Rain

“But above all, in order to be, never try to seem.”
― Albert Camus, Notebooks, 1935-1951