July 29: What Calypso asked Odysseus (and what I tell my clients)…

I went to see The Odyssey with friends yesterday afternoon.

It was exactly what I expected.

Grandiose.

Visually stunning.

Not the traditional Odyssey at all.

I'm not going to get into good, not good, great, or a heaping pile of whatever.

That's your call to make.

Our car ride home had three people and seventeen opinions, so clearly there's no consensus to be found here.

But there was one moment I want to tell you about.

Calypso asks Odysseus: "What if remembering destroys your happiness?"

He answers: "Then it wasn't real."

I pulled out my phone and typed that into my notes so fast.

Thank goodness we were in the back row, because nobody had to deal with my screen light while I had a small epiphany in a movie theater.

Here's why it hit me the way it did:

That exchange is almost word for word a conversation I have with clients on a regular basis.

They ask, "What if being authentic destroys my happiness? My relationship? My friendships?"

And my answer is the same one Odysseus gave.

Then it wasn't real.

Which is a deep truth.

And also, not a comforting one—not in the moment, anyway.

Most people don't want truth when they're scared of losing something.

They want reassurance that they can keep performing and still keep the thing.

But I don't deal in platitudes, I deal in what actually works.

And here's what actually works:

When you show up as the real, unfiltered version of yourself, some people are going to leave.

That's not a bug.

That's the whole system functioning correctly.

It means the people who stay, stayed for you.

Not for the version of you that was managing their comfort at the expense of your own.

That's the whole game.

You gather the people who love who for you actually are, and then you get to relax.

You get to stop auditioning.

You get to belong somewhere without performing for the privilege of it.

I genuinely can't think of anything more comfortable than that.

So if you've been wondering whether being honest about what you want, who you are, or what you need is going to cost you something…yeah, it might.

But whatever's left standing after that?

That's the real thing.

If you want to talk through what authenticity is actually costing you right now, book a free 15-minute Big Ask consultation with me.

We'll figure out what's real and what's just a very convincing performance.

https://my.curiouser.life/15-minutes-big-ask

--
Rev Heather, aka Nookie, LUQ
https://my.curiouser.life
+1-855-712-5433 (toll-free)

P.S. Are you performing anywhere in your life right now instead of being real? And what do you think would happen if you stopped?

Hit reply and tell me. No wrong answers.