If there's anything I know for sure, few people like to talk about lying.
Bad people lie. Criminals lie. You and I never, lie, right? We are good people! We just might tell "creative" stories or "white lies" sometimes and then laugh it all off.
But this morning, I want to sit with the opposite of this word: truth.
Truth: the facts about something rather than things that are imagined or invented.
In a world where what happens and what is believed are opposites, talking about truth can be a tricky reality. What is even the truth anymore? Yet, I continue to believe that soul work and truth-telling go in the same sentence.
To care for your soul (so that you have the capacity to bring more goodness and love and light and all the best things into the world) begins with the truth.
So today I'm wondering: what true about you? (And what do you want to hide?)
I have learned in my own journey that when I don't feel safe around people or a situation, I much more likely to skate around the truth for protection. I have learned to have self-compassion for myself in this way because safety is a basic human need and we can't bear our souls to everyone.
BUT, when you are safe, how might your soul be asking you to grow in the practice of truth telling?
Here's one suggestion. Think of some of your most trustworthy friends/ family members. How can you talk about what is true with them?
Recently I have encountered the work of Poet David Gate. (You can find more of his work here). In one of his recent post he offers this:
"The first thing in knowing yourself is to realize that you cannot really be known by your own eyes alone. We need to heed what those close to us perceive, because we are too good at the art of denial and afraid of being as naked as the lies we tell ourselves."
What I love about these words is that Gates points to that self-deception can easily creep into all of our lives if we don't surround ourselves with those who are kind and wise enough to mirror back to us what is REAL.
Of course, not everything others see or say is an accurate reality (we're all human after all and mistakes are made), but so many times it is!
Those who know and love us well have truth to share. And the truth will set us free!
So, friend, this week, in your pursuit of more truth filled living, may just the right people offer grace to help you see.
XO
Elizabeth
