The Sound Of The Genuine

“There is something in every one of you that waits, listens for the genuine in yourself—and if you can not hear it, you will never find whatever it is for which you are searching and if you hear it and then do not follow it, it was better that you had never been born. You are the only you that has ever lived; your idiom is the only idiom of its kind in all the existences, and if you cannot hear the sound of the genuine in you, you will all of your life spend your days on the ends of strings that somebody else pulls.”

— REV. DR. HOWARD THURMAN

Wait and listen. What is the sound of the genuine in yourself saying to you? Can you hear your body talking to you? Do you hear a kind, caring voice coming from you mind or heart?

If not, you are not alone. After all, there’s so much traffic getting in the way.

I love the above quote because I hear it speaking directing to the work of becoming an intuitive eater. The process starts by identifying and naming the programming coming from diet culture that influences our food choices and how we view our bodies. This is the first principle of Intuitive Eating: Reject the diet mentality.

You may not even realize there are different message coming at you almost constantly throughout the day. Here are some examples of such disruptive noise that drowns out the sound of the genuine (which, I believe is our intuitive voice). As a remedy, I’m offering messages that can quiet that clanging and make room for the sound of the genuine from some of my favorite voices on Instagram (because I just can’t leave you in confusion).

*Disruption: Happiness comes by having a small body.
*Remedy: @beauty_redefined is turning that myth on its head.

*Disruption: Hard work (burnout culture) and the glorification of sleep deprivation, is the only way to the top.
*Remedy: Look to @thenapministry for more guidance.

*Disruption: If you’re not on a diet, you are giving up.
*Remedy: @evelyntribole and @elyseresch show a path to peace with food and body through Intuitive Eating.

*Disruption: Seeking and acquiring health is a personal choice.
*Remedy: @haes_studentdoctor will tell you differently (and she spelled it out so beautifully in her 4/23/19 instagram post.)

Are you tired of being at the end of the string that someone else pulls? What will it take for you to hear the sound of the genuine in you?

Quote (slightly abridged in the photo) by Dr. Rev. Howard Thurman in his Baccalaureate Address at Spelman College, May 4, 1980. You can find the work in its entirety here.