Authenticity as a lived principle—that is, the choice to become more truly and deeply oneself, whatever the cost—is as necessary as soil and rain. Without it, we wither. We put forth poisoned gourds. But if we speak truth, walk in truth, and cultivate truth, like strawberry plants, around us, we can offer what we’ve grown to others when they come with honest hunger to our door. In this slow way, we change first ourselves, and then the world.
The label
Authentic is heir to the now disreputable
exotic, frequenting the same haunts as its predecessor, its racial inflections more carefully concealed. The swap is most obvious in reviews and advertising for nonwhite restaurants. Where, ten years ago, a menu might have been described as exotic, now it is