2006/07/13

What is real anyways?

I was having a conversation with an old friend about life and where we've come from and where we're both headed, and at some point in the conversation, the term "real" started being thrown around. Now this is something that I am guilty of quite often. You know those people, they are just very real... but in trying to explain this to someone else, I realized that I'm not even so sure of what I'm talking about.

So is being real just always being honest and not being a fake? Or does real have more to do with being in tune with God's rhythm of life, living life how it was meant to be lived? I've been throwing this word in front of all sorts of other things to make it some sort of better. I could probably explain to you what I usually mean when I say real in reference to someone else, but when I kept describing my own life experiences and my efforts of just trying to be real... I fell short.

Help me out here.

6 comments:

Delbert said...

i like that test.

but sometimes i think it's understandeable to act differently in front of certain people depending on the circumstances...

like, once i was playing guitar in a church for worship, and i was asked to wear a dress shirt and tie and no jeans. at first i thought that was stupid and they were asking me to change just because they thought you had to dress up for church! but the more i prayed about it, i really felt that God was telling me to be considerate of the people i was reaching out to. I dont think i changed who i was at all, because me being a compassionate person is a part of my character. but i might have acted differently, or dressed differently because of that compassion.

so sometimes i don't think it's ok to assume that since someone might act differently in front of different people, that always means they are being any less real. at least i have never thought so... cuz i like to beleive i was just as much the real me when i was wearing that shirt and tie.

Jeffrey said...

well reid i see what your saying but i always have viewed that more so as integrity.

graham are you refering to authenticity?
"does real have more to do with being in tune with God's rythm of life, living life how it was meant to be lived? "

i thought THAT was an amazing line..
makes me feel as if being real.. or one of "those" real people are truely PRESENT in their life...not being present in their future or past.. but living serving hoping LOVING in their now with Jesus as their centre.

hmmm... you have good thoughts that resonate somewhere deep inside a lot of people.

peace.
jeff

Anonymous said...

I think the term "real" is going to have different meaning to different people. Especially those who are fake and don't even know it! To me it means being honest with yourself (and to others) but more so I believe it to be a concoction of qualities that make you "real". Honesty, conviction, unbias, accountability. These are just a few that I believe make someone "real". It's alot like religion. Everyone has their belief of what God is to them and alot of people hold a great conviction to that belief. I guess to me it is doing what is right for yourself and making the things want out of life possible. But, beware, there are some poeple who misconstrude this. There can be a dark side to this "real" and religion.

If you do what you believe to be write for you (and you are not hurting yourself or anyone else) and stay focused on what you want out of life you can't go wrong! Make "you" happy!

Steven Barley

Anonymous said...

keep it real graham

drewology said...

I think it would help if you shared what being "real" looks like in someone else. As anonymous#1 said, "the term 'real' is going to have different meaning to different people." It depends on the context the word "real" is being used in. Being a real person and being real can have totally different meanings.

Delbert said...

maybe the question was posed as more of a way of deciding what "real" looks like in someone, because have used the word so often without any sort of thought to what it means. and i guess i'm not really sure.