Authentic Orange

Submitted by Sydney Lund

“Be Orange”

There’s many different ways to describe authenticity, or “being orange.” However, for myself to describe, I would say that authenticity means being genuine, kind, and heartfelt. My reasoning for this is because authentic is your true self, and how you express yourself on a daily basis. People express themselves in many different ways, and from the lectures in class, we talked about one of the existential themes being “humanism.” While we were talking about humanism, we learned that it is an individual who focuses on the pursuit of identity and freedom (Lecture, 5/19/15). Also, their values and meaning in opposition to social, political and economic pressure for conformity. This means that humanism is linked to authenticity, or at least I believe so. I think they are linked together because reasoning, freedom, being in situation and questioning are all part of being authentic.

I believe there are many obstacles to becoming an individual within a community, but I have one specific in mind. I think the biggest obstacle people face is not being accepted by individuals, and constantly being judged by others, which makes it difficult to live a happy life in a community. I also feel like it’s troubling to be accepted nowadays because there are so many different spheres of life according to our readings. For example, there is the aesthetic sphere, ethical sphere, and religious sphere. Everyone fits in a different sphere and I feel like people are accepted based on the sphere they fall into. The aesthetic sphere is sensation, and it satisfies immediate desires, and seeks pleasurable experiences (Lecture, 4/28/15). These types of spheres are often thrill seekers and seducers. Also, the ethical sphere is choice (Lecture, 4/28/15). The meaning of the ethical sphere is morality, and has universal and moral duties. Lastly, is the religious sphere. The religious sphere includes, but can contradict the ethical sphere (Lecture, 4/28/15). It means to have Christian faith and is individual and subjective versus church dogma. The eternal meaning of this sphere is found in passionate absurd, commitment and is part of the leap of faith. As an example for being an obstacle as an individual in our community is, I have noticed that here at Oregon State, if you’re not in a sorority or a fraternity, then you are generally not as accepted to hang out with those people. I feel as though the people in sororities and frats are in the aesthetic sphere, because they are more of the risk takers, and thrill seekers. However, that doesn’t mean that other people not in frats and sororities are those types of people either, but people judge too much, and it’s difficult to be accepted.

Being Orange also collides with the themes of existentialism (Lecture, 5/21/15). The first theme is “Existence precedes essence.” Basically, what you are is a result of your choices. This relates to authenticity because authenticity is being yourself, which is a result of your choices. The second theme is existence is temporal. The second theme relates to authenticity because depending on what you choose to do, your choices are up to you and how genuine your attitude is. The third theme is ethics, which means varying definitions. Ethics also includes commitment to politics. Ethics relates to authenticity because it is a shared commitment to authentic living, as individuals and society (Lecture 5/19/15). Basically meaning that to be authentic is being accepted by society by your genuinity. The next theme is freedom, which means reflection, transcendence and responsibility. Freedom relates to authenticity because in order to be who you are and act as yourself, then you have to be and act free. All of these are from the readings, and lectures from class that all relate to being orange, and acting authentic.

In conclusion, to be authentic means to be genuine, and yourself. People these days need to be more accepting and take a leap of faith according to Kirkegard (Kirkegard, The Crowd is Untruth). The leap of faith is passionate, and subjective relationship to truth (Lecture, 4/28/15). This also relates to authenticity because you are taking a chance to show your true self. Overall, people need to be themselves, which is being orange, because that is staying true to yourself.