Let's talk about truth. Telling the truth is uncomfortable, raw, awkward. It exposes the person with a truth to confess. It deepens a relationship with people because it's no longer surface deep. If you think about it, we guard ourselves from telling the truth in order to protect ourselves from the hurt, embarrassment, or rejection that telling the truth can lead to.
For example, let's say you go to the dentist. It's someone you see twice a year. You make small talk. But the initial question when first seeing that person is likely to be, "How are you?" Chances are, regardless of how bad your day is, you'll say, "I'm fine" or even say the somewhat "bold" statement of, "I'm hanging in there" implying that something is wrong, but it's often said with a smile, almost like it's a joke that life can be bad sometimes. It's not that it's wrong, but what's the motive for saying these little white lies? It could be it's uncomfortable or it's socially awkward to give an honest answer. Not to mention that the other person may not necessarily care, but is rather asking a question that shows good social etiquette. Over time, we learn to open ourselves up, expose ourselves, and put ourselves out there in order to build relationships, but even with close friends we can still keep those deep, dark secrets to ourselves as we suffer and struggle alone.
Another example would be social media. How often do we see people talking about their struggles, when things are bad, the trials they're going through? Rarely. We see the edited versions of pictures because we want people to like how attractive we are. We see posts about how wonderful so and so's husband is, but in reality this close friend who is continuously posting this has regular screaming matches with their spouse. We see pictures of the perfect mom baking cookies with her primary aged daughter, but don't see that when her daughter spilt the milk that "perfect" mom yelled at her daughter, then sent her away to finish up on her own. We see pictures of the fancy new houses, new cars, job promotions, you get the picture, but rarely do we see people openly posting that they're hurting.
What does this have to do with anything? Truth is hard. Truth can hurt. But if we cover up the truth with this facade that everything is perfect and fine in life, how can we help each other? How can we learn from others? How can we bear each other's burdens?
My goal is to have an outlet for myself where I can share the harsh reality of truth in my trials. Maybe it comes off as whining, a struggle, depression, a blessing in disguise, resentment, or maybe all of these since that's how it feels sometimes, but at least it feels open, honest, and like a burden is lifted off me because I can share my true thoughts in this outlet. Furthermore, we can't help each other or learn from each other if we stay silent.
Be real with me! :)
