Power comes from authenticity. When we hear an artist or a politician, a warrior or an advocate speak from her true center, we feel her power. Even Lady Gaga, whose public persona is as artificially contrived as it is possible to be, is authentic in her artificiality.
Her Gaga-ness gives her her power.

Lady Gaga, Stefani Germanotta
“Lady Gaga” is the creative power that was trapped inside Stefani Germanotta. Stefani Germanotta became herself when she uncorked “Lady Gaga,” just as Madonna Ciccone unleashed her charisma when she invented “Madonna.”
I live in Los Angeles. One of the things I love about the place is it’s a city where a person can go to re-invent themselves.
The artist’s journey is the passage by which we re-invent ourselves as ourselves. We discover the self that was slumbering inside us or in chains, waiting to be awakened and emancipated. In re-inventing ourselves as ourselves, we find ourselves for the first time.
Power comes from authenticity.
The more ourselves we are, the more charisma we will project and the greater will be the impact of our words and our actions.
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Authenticity and Power first appeared on
Steven Pressfield.
Published on July 17, 2024 01:25