Speaking truth to power is all well and good, but speaking truth to ourselves is infinitely harder. We live in a busy and complex world, but we also contain secret multitudes within ourselves. When the two realms of our existence come into conflict, when what we are or feel within ourselves doesn't fit into the world at large, it isolates us. Humans are inherently social beings, it is in our nature to want to connect with those around us, especially those we love. When we keep secrets about ourselves from the world, we can so easily become detached from those people. When the world in our head is the only place where our truth exists, then we will naturally spend more time there. Humans will almost always be drawn to the situation, place, or environment in which they can be most comfortable in their own skin. If that place is away from the real world, secreted up in our own minds, then so be it. That is why living our truth is so important, so deeply ingrained in our minds and hearts, because without it it becomes harder and harder to actually live in the world we find ourselves in. In essence, living your truth is vital because anything else isn't really living. That's why people come out, that's why people own their identities even when it might lose them friends or family. If it wasn't fundamental to our very nature, if we didn't need to be truthful to ourselves, why would people put themselves through the difficulties of coming out as queer? In the end, we are drawn to living our truth because everything else would be incomplete.
Love that last line – "we are drawn to living our truth because everything else would be incomplete" Yes! That's it exactly. If we didn't "come out" then we would never "be".
Speaking truth to power is all well and good, but speaking truth to ourselves is infinitely harder. We live in a busy and complex world, but we also contain secret multitudes within ourselves. When the two realms of our existence come into conflict, when what we are or feel within ourselves doesn't fit into the world at large, it isolates us. Humans are inherently social beings, it is in our nature to want to connect with those around us, especially those we love. When we keep secrets about ourselves from the world, we can so easily become detached from those people. When the world in our head is the only place where our truth exists, then we will naturally spend more time there. Humans will almost always be drawn to the situation, place, or environment in which they can be most comfortable in their own skin. If that place is away from the real world, secreted up in our own minds, then so be it. That is why living our truth is so important, so deeply ingrained in our minds and hearts, because without it it becomes harder and harder to actually live in the world we find ourselves in. In essence, living your truth is vital because anything else isn't really living. That's why people come out, that's why people own their identities even when it might lose them friends or family. If it wasn't fundamental to our very nature, if we didn't need to be truthful to ourselves, why would people put themselves through the difficulties of coming out as queer? In the end, we are drawn to living our truth because everything else would be incomplete.
Love that last line – "we are drawn to living our truth because everything else would be incomplete" Yes! That's it exactly. If we didn't "come out" then we would never "be".