Authenticity in a World that Demands Conformity: Embracing Your True Colours

“You can’t go on all the time being whatever’s necessary. You’ve got to have some conviction…” – Tsitsi Dangarembga

From the day you are born, there’s an unspoken expectation to fit in. To behave a certain way. To dream within acceptable limits. To speak only what is deemed polite. Society rewards those who blend in. Those who know how to adapt, perform and please.

But somewhere along the way, in the pursuit of belonging, we lose ourselves.

Think of the chameleon, how it constantly changes its colour to blend in with the environment, instead of remaining the colour it was originally created to be. Among the green leaves it becomes green, on the brown earth it turns brown.

How often have you been a chameleon in your own life? How often have you changed your colours just to be accepted? To fit into rooms that didn’t feel like home.

You change your accent to sound more palatable, soften your voice so it doesn’t offend, even shorten your name so it’s easier to pronounce. You’ve lied about who you are, or hidden parts of yourself that you feared might be too much. Too loud. Too foreign. Too real.

I remember when I was much younger, I bit my tongue a lot. I stopped myself from saying what I really felt because I felt my convictions were too strong, too different from others’. Looking back, I wish I hadn’t held back. I wish I had spoken up.

Being a chameleon is exhausting. It is too performative, every new environment demands a different performance from the other. After a while, you forget who you are. You no longer recognise the person you see in the mirror.

Until it hits you one day. You’ve lost yourself while trying to fit in with the crowd. Your own reflection is a stranger to you. You suddenly realise how much you miss the sound of your own laughter, the real one, not the performative one. You decide to stop putting up a show. You decide to be your unfiltered and authentic self. Unapologetically.

Authenticity in a world that demands conformity is not always easy. It is a kind of rebellion. There is no applause for it. Sometimes, there is no visible reward either, but it is freeing. To walk through life being who you really are is freedom.

The people and opportunities meant for you will recognise you as you are. Without any need for the camouflage.

The chameleon survives by blending in, but you shouldn’t. You were not created to just survive. You were created to stand out in your own beatiful hue. Without any need for applause or approval because deep down you know who you are and there is so much freedom in just being you!