Authenticity as a Key
I was randomly (or maybe not, because I don’t think much is random these days) served a suggested reel on Facebook. I don’t often watch reels, but this one caught my eye. It was a Hispanic woman named Lorena Hidalgo Oliva. She has over 600,000 followers from sharing her life, mostly videos of her cooking at 4 in the morning to pack her husband’s lunch.
At first I thought the video titled “Lunch for my Blue Collar Husband at 4 a.m.” was a joke. Simply because of the amount of food she was preparing for this man. It was pork and enchiladas and hot sandwiches and then she started tossing in bananas, granola bars, yogurt, and the kitchen sink. I checked the comments and found that this may be a cultural thing. Or maybe he shares. I don’t know. And that wasn’t really the point.
I started watching her other videos. She is playful with her husband. They hug and dance around while she is still in her nightgown. She cleans her home. She cooks. She seems happy and authentic and loved. She is not your cookie cutter influencer. She is overweight. Her face is a bit unusual. People in the comments mention it, sometimes unkindly, and speculate she may have suffered a stroke. She hasn’t addressed it as far as I know. She is simply herself. Which I find beautiful.
They live in a large RV camper and it is immaculate. Beautifully decorated. She posts videos of her cleaning and making the bed, and she makes a perfect bed like a woman who has worked in hotels. Because she has. She cleans with attention, devotion, and joy. And her food looks like fire. Authentic Mexican food that feels like it comes straight from her roots.
I don’t know Lorena. I have only peeked into the tiny window she chooses to share online. But what I feel from her is powerful. She is the embodiment of the divine feminine. She is comfortable with herself. Confident. She takes care of her home and her man because that is what she chooses to do. She sets the stage for her life with her energy and the way she moves through her day. She projects joy and humor. She doesn’t need the perfect body or the perfect face or the perfect wardrobe or a huge house. She makes magic with what she has. For herself. For her husband. And she chooses to share it with the community she has built. She allows herself to be seen.
I believe this is an example of real spirituality. Being grounded and joyful in the life you have. Using the gifts that are already yours. Taking care of yourself and your people. Doing everything with intention. Loving. Living. And being unapologetically yourself.
I see more sincerity in this woman’s videos than in some of the branded spiritual content floating around today. We don’t have to have chakra classes and aura cleansing and desert ceremonies and drugs and meditations and systems and certifications and a million years of shadow work and self help books and crystals and gurus and tinctures and supplements and the perfect yoga class.
These things can all be wonderful tools when offered by those in integrity sharing their own gifts and medicine. I have used many of them. I have also been trapped by them. Chasing my tail. They whisper that if we just find the right system or book or coach or class, then we’ll finally be healed and happy and whole.
The truth is we already are.
Heaven on earth looks a lot like living like Lorena. Finding the sacred right in front of you. Grounding yourself. Making the mundane holy. Realizing the mundane already is holy. Being human is why we are here. Not something to escape. It is messy and beautiful and exactly as it should be.
Once we accept what is and surrender, we can finally see that we are already surrounded by beauty. We just have to claim it and nurture it and be it. And most importantly, be ourselves. Whatever that looks like. For me personally, it is definitely not going to be getting up at 4 a.m. to cook for my husband. Thankfully I do have other gifts.
