Lately it has been impossible to ignore these battles of certainty, these clashes of truths. How can I ignore the clanging of that certain type of male; who believes so strongly in the truths he holds about whether or not a woman has the right to make her own decisions about her own body? How can I possibly shut out the trill condemning in pure ignorant certainty all other religions except its own?
How paradoxical that something as absolute as the truth seems so very slippery in these times.
Here I stand, all at once unwavering in certain truths and evolving in others. What does this say about me? What does this say about the truth?
So, here's some truth telling.
Truths about me run on a spectrum. There are things that no one will doubt to be true about me: that I a generous collaborator, a staunch advocate for fairness and a fiercely loyal friend. One the opposite end, there are things that even my closest circle might find hard to believe about me. Somber things, like the fact that I am affective and empathetic to such depths that I cannot enter war museums without absorbing such deep sorrow it sometimes takes me days to recover. And somewhere in the middle would be things that might split the camp. Some of these truths are loaded with whimsy, like the fact that seeing a first star will still send me giddily into "star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, wish I may, wish I might have the wish I wish tonight" and a deeply-felt-eyes-tight-breath-held wish.
I am co-licensee and head of programming for TEDxNewYorkSalon.
In curating our salon for September 26th I invited our community into this paradoxical exploration. I extend this invitation to you. As we think about the truth, and as we think about the truths we hold dear about ourselves I share with you with two provocative TED talks and this inquiry into your truth:
“Thinking about that spectrum, what things are 100% undeniable truths about you that people who know you will not be surprise about, what truths about you would surprise most people and what truths about you sit somewhere in the middle?”