Issue.20 - Truth?
Issue.20 - Truth?
What is the only question one needs to make?
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20. Introduction
There are no introductions today, the truth is usually objective.
“What is truth?” is perhaps the question that some of the greatest men and women in human history have tried to answer.
Do you want to know if any of them found an answer?
Well, some might have said that they did.
Others wrote about their pursuit of truth and enlightened countless people just by doing so, even though they never found their own.
It is truly an impossible task, but that is exactly where the magic is. There’s no end to it, only the journey and what you learn in the process.
But why searching for truth tends to be so hard?
Because you tend to find it in small, painful doses.
20.1 Dose #1 - Telling Truth
Ignorance is bliss?
Ignorance is bliss in the same proportion that truth is pain fairly because feeling guilt or responsibility from our own mistakes or the unhealthy aspects of society is the same thing as taking a bitter sip of medicine that raises our awareness about being alive and just extracting rather than cultivating, taking rather than giving, using rather than sharing.
It’s like faithfully reading all issues of Agency but never leaving a comment, a like or a subscription in order to support the project.
Sounds… unsustainable, lol.
“What’s going to be, Neo? The red pill of pain or the blue pill of ignorance?” Asks Morpheus as he offers two solutions to all of Neo’s problems.
What is the truth in this scene?
Now that the question has been made, we can investigate.
But that doesn’t mean we will find it, nor that what I write about it will be right.
Truth, nevertheless, is, most of the time, a mere point of view.
Which means that my truth differs from your truth.
And that is perfectly okay as long as we can respectfully agree on some things or still investigate stuff together.
In fact, some people have a very twisted sense of truth where they don’t allow any external point of view to enter their palace of illusionary reality.
As long as what they are being told makes them feel well or compliments them in some way, everything is fine.
Ego spa day.
Stay the same.
Like a statue.
But if they are corrected, if they get a reprimand or just hear a brutal honesty about something, they will hate it, and you will be the villain for saying it.
Ego death.
Change.
Like a human.
That is, after all, why truth is painful, it is a bitter medicine for both sides; one side is hurt by the truth, and the other side feels bad for having to say it.
Telling the truth is sometimes a sacrifice, it is like a seppuku, a samurai suicide in plain daylight - it is ugly but honourable.
And you don’t know what is going to happen after it, tremendous risk for the smallest of rewards: helping someone through the honesty of love.
But here’s what I learned:
1st: This I got from the bible - It is the role of the parent to correct the children, for those who don’t teach discipline to their sons and daughters treat them as bastards. It is the role of the father to correct; otherwise, the love of the mother will raise someone who will completely break when facing adversities in life. Who wants that?
Of course, the roles can be inverted, and in the same way, you can, for a single moment of a single day, try to play the loving role of a father or mother for a person that you care about, who wouldn’t want that?
2nd: Truth is like a seed you plant - Have you ever heard something like: “How dare you say that to me? You are the only person that ever said that or talked this way to me.” - Is such a statement good or bad? Well, in a way, it is good, you are unique! But from another point of view, it is bad, perhaps the person won’t even want to talk with you anymore.
But time heals, sincere truth matures, and you will realize that the person will value you for being the only one brave enough to tell the truth, for risking that bond forever in order to correct a misdoing.
3rd: Theory differs from practice - Nobody wants to take risks because truth is… most people can’t really handle the adversities of life. So, most of the time, it is better to just pretend. If you can’t predict the outcome of something, it’s easier to pretend. Why?
Because we all share one innate fear deeply within us, we are afraid of being alone. If we fail, we will be left alone, if we say the wrong things, we will be left alone, if we don’t behave as someone expects, we will be left alone.
20.2 Dose #2 - Questioning Truth
Truth is pain?
Questioning the truth is about being alone with yourself until you become… your own friend.
Some people can’t be alone with themselves for a single minute, they always have to be interacting with someone. They are profoundly dependent on others and have never figured out their own interests or hobbies.
Telling the truth is completely different from questioning yourself about the truth.
Fairly because you only want to express the truth when you try to understand the things and people around you.
You won’t want to tell the truth to someone if you don’t even care about them, and if you don’t care, it is a simple equation of not thinking about them.
Have you just been thinking about yourself?
Before telling the truth, we need to question the truth. About ourselves, about others, about nature, about life.
You know, I was once called square-headed for being curious about Christianity and going to church in order to see it with my own eyes. I was trying to improve myself and find the truth behind it rather than just hear from other people.
I heard absurd things many times, but I abstracted them through critical thinking, outdated ideas of a world long past. But thankfully, I learned some others that I regard very well.
Some people are like statues or outdated software - they found a version of themselves and got forever stuck in it. They are comfortable with their lives, and that is ok.
But planet Earth spins constantly, and like statues, they stay in boring stillness. They always talk about the same subjects, complain about the same things, and do the same things. Are they human? They live in a loop, like a program.
Omae wa mou shindeiru.
They do that because they fail to realize that the only person capable of upgrading their own software is themselves. So they become like a fruit, they grow, mature, rot and die. Nothing beyond that.
Upgrading your own software regards improving yourself, but that can only be done if you are ready to face yourself in an ego battle where you will lose every single time.
Because losing, missing a shot, or acknowledging you are wrong is life’s way of teaching us discipline.
Picture a kid going near a lit stove with a hot pan, for the first time ever, this child touches the burning pan only to find out that… fire burns the finger. The physical pain will forever teach this child not to touch a hot pan with bare hands anymore. A lifetime lesson.
Questioning truth is quite similar but doesn’t regard physical pain, only emotional pain. To truly feel guilt is the most simple way of not only healing but also improving.
Very few people seem to realize that, but Christianity is all about guilt: to regret all kinds of sins, feel the pain and become a more loving person.
Even fewer people seem to realize that this is a dangerous loop not only because of spiritual narcissism but also because this guilt can turn into hate and exclusion of others. Prejudice & Myopia.
Christianity is responsible for giving people second chances and hope as much as it is responsible for many different wars in our past.
If you ask too many questions, you might find out that you don’t like your job, you don’t like your relationship, you don’t like yourself. That the things that once made you feel well don’t anymore. That you changed, but they stayed the same. That you want to change, but they don’t let you.
No one wants to realize those types of things, as they entail drastic changes in one’s life. Why would one change something that has been the same for years? It would not only be uncomfortable but also extremely risky. What will happen? What if my decisions go wrong? “Oh, my dear lord, I pray for you to rid me of my headache.”
People do all kinds of things to rid themselves of responsibility and discomfort, but that is life.
Question life enough, and you will realize some things:
1st: Duality is everywhere - You wouldn’t know what joy is if you never felt sorrow. If you avoid the bad feelings long enough, it means you are avoiding the good feelings as well; you stay in between both, and you become numb. A living opioid.
If you only feel good about life or yourself, you are either lying to yourself or living an illusion. break the clay mould so that you can flow in balance.
2nd: Everyone is entitled to their own truth. - If you can’t agree with how other people think, if you can’t talk to someone just because you don’t like their beliefs, that means you are sick. You are excluding people who could be your friends or even business partners.
If your truth regards excluding that which is different from you, you are worse than a statue, you are… a plant. A tremendous bubble head because fraternity and collaboration are profoundly important in life. If you surround yourself with only people who think likewise, you won’t ever get new ideas. You live in a bubble, pop it already.
3rd: True perfection has to be imperfect - If you think you are perfect, you are losing many different opportunities by being humble, which is the same thing as being open to change and to novelty. Being humble is not the difference between being first, second or third, being humble is about being… zero. Lol.
20.3 Dose #3 - Sharing Truth
Truth is liberation?
Have you ever heard that quote?
Blablablablablabla
- Some Bubblehead
Enough quotes.
Theory differs from practice.
I will tell you some truth about me.
My self-esteem sucks.
That turned me into a huge nerd.
I rather spend all day writing or studying all sorts of things than putting my face out there and interacting with people in the real world.
My beloved desktop (A.K.A Freedom) is safe heaven to me, it represents the exact opposite of social anxiety.
But I realized that we can’t be seen today if we don’t make… videos with our faces on them.
I was questioning the truth, and I realized that If I don’t commit to breaking this mould of mine, the 100,000 words I wrote here won’t ever be truly read.
This is not an option.
So, I made this.
I hope you like it!