To Tell the Truth

1. Appreciate the opportunities you've had.
2. Be nice on April Fools' Day, or else people might not talk to you.
3. Be prepared to face some Karma.
4. Tell the truth.

Megan here, hope you all have a great Easter break!

Last Thursday, I was lucky enough to hear National Book Award winners, Nikky Finney and Thanhha Lai, at a discussion and reading hosted by NPR's Lynn Neary.  Anyone who knows me well knows I am an enormous poetry nut and so I naturally jumped at the chance to hear Finney who won in the category of Poetry for her book, Head Off and Split. For Finney, the concept of truth kept coming up again and again, she cited Adrienne Rich as a major influence and credited her for teaching her how to tell the truth.  Unfortunately, the poetic community is now grieving Adrienne Rich, as she passed away last Wednesday night.

I am going to let you in on one of my little secrets.  I am a fantastic liar.  I really am.  I can spin a web of lies a mile wide and probably look you in the eyes and smile while doing so.  If this is sounding alarm bells in your head, relax.  I am not a pathological liar, nor am I sociopathic.  With great power comes great responsibility, and in this case, I think the greater power lies in me having the nerve and integrity to tell the truth despite my skill.  Just because I can, doesn't mean I always do.

I've always known I could lie and lie well, but it's been on my mind ever since I executed my various April Fools' Day shenanigans with relative ease. see here: Just Kidding.  Honestly, I'm not proud of it.  It means that, at one point, maybe even many points, I was so uncomfortable with the truth and the thought of revealing the truth, that I became far too good at hiding it.  Thankfully, times change, and I am anything but guarded these days.

Finney's suggestion that we should tell the truth seems so simplistic, yet it sounded so profound coming from her hushed whisper--a product of laryngitis.  We have to present the truth to the world as well as to our own selves. It's a scary thought. I don't deceive the world lately, but I do plenty of lying to myself, such as "This is what I want to say." "I really enjoy this" or even "This is why I'm feeling this way" when really, I would much rather say something less sugar-coated and I may despise what I'm doing in that moment.  Being true to yourself is where and how you find happiness, at least with my experience.  It's just unfortunate that this is sometimes really, really difficult to do.

Tell the truth as you know it. Strip away all the false fronts, false information, and false smiles--maybe even false frowns.  If you're happy, go out and be happy.  If you're sad, recognize that and try to improve it. Try not to hide your emotions--both good and bad--from the world.  Truth is complicated, even subjective at times, but it is all of our jobs to present it as we know it.  I mean heck, we only live one life, and that life might as well be as real and veridical as possible. 

Tell the truth, I think you'll be glad you did. I am.

-Megan