Authentic Orange

Submitted by Kassie Morrison

To be authentic is the ability to live out your own life, to embrace yourself, your abilities, your passions, and strive to be your truest self no matter the obstacles you may face in life. To be authentically orange means to apply this authenticity to your life amidst the Oregon State beaver community, taking pride in who you are and the environment you are helping to create.

This authenticity is of utmost importance as it shapes your individuality and entire means of existence. As noted by Simone de Beauvoir in 1947 in Ethics of Ambiguity, this authentic stance on ethics is individualistic as it carves out your individual’s “absolute value…[and] the power of laying the foundations of [your] own existence” (Beauvoir). The “Orange” aspect of being authentic is also of significance as someone’s authenticity isn’t just shaped by their true individuality, but how they can apply that truth to their surroundings. This application includes humanism towards all beings, holistic embodiment within a community, and pure compassion.

As we journey through our years at Oregon State University we can practice these forms of Orange Authenticity among friends and classmates, group project members, the individuals we pass in the MU quad, and in every passing moment of our college careers to the ends of our existence. Humanism is a solid note on how to practice authenticity, in his piece Black Skin, White Masks, Frantz Fanon explains how “Man is a Yes: Yes to life, Yes to love, and Yes to generosity”  while “Man is also a No: No to scorn of man. No to degradation of man. No to exploitation of man” (lecture 5/19). So, humanism celebrates the relationship we have with one another and the ways we can express that bond, while also noting that dehumanization is what tears that relationship apart. This connection among people is also a great sustainable source of happiness as it graces us with a sense of worthiness, love and belonging, and moments of vulnerability to gain trust in others (lecture 5/28). We are all given the opportunity to express this compassion and authenticity in our lives, we just have to stand up and take responsibility for being a part of the society we create and we will know what it means to lead authentic lives.

But the ability to stand up may be the hardest part of living a complete and authentic life, as there may be a number of obstacles that need to be challenged. While I’m sure the majority of people believe they are living in good faith, accepting and embracing your transcendence and facticity (lecture 5/26), I think there is always room for improvement. For one, facing obstacles head on and deciding that they do not have control over who you are. Some of these obstacles may include; not living out who you are in entirety for fear of being judged by others and society’s opinions, this sort of mentality was noted by Nietzche as “the heard”, having to look or act a specific way to fall in line with the majority of a society (lecture 5/28). Other obstacles may include not putting in the effort to go out of your way to express compassion towards others, smiling or saying hello when passing someone on the street in order to acknowledge someone’s existence.

If we were all to live full authentic lives by demonstrating pride in our individuality as well as the community we assist in creating, we would all be a part of living authentically orange lives.