Something True
I figure I ought to start how I mean to continue. And I do miss taking a moment with you on Sunday mornings to reflect on the week that's been and gather ourselves for the one to come. So let's!
Tell the truth, tell the truth, tell the truth.
That’s the epigraph for Liz Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love.
I used to think there was some BIG COSMIC TRUTH. Something my puny human mind might be able to understand. Something that would make it all—everything from the blooming of a flower to war and famine—make sense.
I studied philosophy in college, looked for meaning in the golden ratio and the fibonacii sequence in architectural school, and read spiritual texts in school to become an interfaith minister. When I realized I wasn’t going to find THE TRUTH in the library, I journeyed to Ireland to apprentice to a woman who happily called herself a witch (the rest of us called her an herbalist). There I chatted up ravens and rocks and hawthorn trees hoping they could help me on my quest for truth.
But after decades of searching, I’ve come to realize that my mantra might be slightly different from Liz Gilbert’s. Just by one word, but I believe it makes all the difference:
Tell your truth, tell your truth, tell your truth.
If there is some great cosmic truth, it’s made up of smaller truths. Bite sized mosaics of reality as we each experience it.
There’s both relief and growth in sharing our truths. We see ourselves more clearly when we give our truths a little air. Sometimes they land solidly, with a resounding yes. Other times, when we see them outside the confines of our mind, we realize they’re more transient than we thought.
In a world where things live forever on the internet, where edits and even fakes are the soup we swim in, it’s become scary to experiment with speaking the truth. It’s not the truth part that’s hard. It’s the experimental part. We feel like we must know if we’re going to put it out in the world. We also feel like it needs to be momentous to bother to share.
But I’m hoping we can try anyway. So, tell me something true. It doesn’t have to be a forever truth. It can be a small thing, something that’s living in your heart right this minute, aching to be set free. And note: comments can only be written and seen by other (paying) members of our community. This is a safe and held space.
Here’s mine:
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