What does it
mean to live one’s truth? Let me start by telling you what I believe it is not.
It isn’t a
patriotic-type waving of one’s own flag. It also isn’t about personal branding,
a trend I think is regrettable for its over simplification and
superficiality (no one, and I mean no one, is ever as one dimensional as
personal branding encourages us to think of ourselves as being).
Living our
truth, then, must acknowledge the reality of being human as magnificently multi-faceted
and complex—a dynamic, ever changing sort of entity.
What may be true for us
when we are young, for instance, may not prove to be just as true when we are
older.
So, getting in
touch with our truth may mean getting in touch with our truths—yes, down the
rabbit hole ... it might also be helpful to understand that we are not
looking for iron-clad answers to the question of what it means to live one’s
truth.
What is
important is to be a sincere and patient listener. It also helps to be
brutally honest, for often the truth has a gritty side to it, as the
writer David Foster Wallace observed:
“The truth will set you free. But not
until it is finished with you.”
Eeek!
Perhaps all he
meant to point out is that if we go in search of the truth expecting all to be
roses and rainbows, we will be sorely disappointed—we need to beware our
propensity for deluding ourselves.
And isn’t that
precisely why it is important to locate the truth in ourselves?
So …
Don’t settle for
anything less.
Frisk yourself
for bullshit on a regular basis.
Live your truth.
