The Fragility of Truth

What's on my mind this week . . .

"The truth is rarely pure and never simple."

~~~Oscar Wilde

misinformation

There is a shift going on - a shift in energy, a shift in thinking, and even a shift in how we define and measure character, our own and that of others. Perhaps collectively we are engaged in a massive identity crisis. It feels that way sometimes, as it did this weekend with the juxtaposition of a poorly attended Washington parade, a desired exhibition of power, and massive crowds in cities across America gathering for a different kind of truth - that power rests with the people. Right now the people, many of them, are asking difficult questions.

• Who are we?

• Who do we want to become?

• What is it that we are creating together?

As a writer, I spend time getting to the truth of my characters. Is my protagonist behaving in a manner consistent with his or her essence as I’ve drawn it? That matters to me and I hope it matters to the reader. As a reader I have always relied on that pillar of character depiction to stay connected as the story unfolds. And, as a reader, I notice when a character behaves in a way inconsistent with character or plot. Unless, it’s a mystery or thriller. Then I expect that I can’t trust the depiction of the characters who flow before me through streams of words. I love a good red herring and a good mystery that keeps me guessing until the end. Very few have.

In real life, red herrings are coming at me fast and furious as distortions and AI generated videos flood social media and the news. Had I worked at the classic newspapers of old, I would have made a good fact-checker on the news desk as I love getting down to what is real. Today, the speech and rhetoric of so many who hold positions of power in our world distort truth. And those positions of power are not only in government but also in media, in journalism and even in the ways we connect together. It feels strange that I can't trust the information that flows through media, whether social or in podcasts or on news channels. For me, losing that sense of reliability in the outer world means I must look within.

And that is precisely what I believe my spiritual and creative challenge is right now. I am being asked to find the truth within. When I get lost in a heightened awareness of duality, then I sit in silence with myself long enough to let the mental noise subside so the space between my thoughts opens to allow in a new voice, one that speaks with the wisdom of my soul. And, from that place I intentionally send a new awareness and energy into that collective - one of the reality that all is oneness.

The great mystery of the separateness of our human physical experience within the profound oneness of Divine Love is what can only be solved one soul choice at a time. The red herrings of today are those voices that amplify our perception of separateness - voices that ask each of us to define self as not the other. By connecting with my soul-self in meditation and silence, I am given the opening to truth and the wisdom to live in alignment with Divine Love. Truth is fragile if time is not given to holding it close. And, as a creative, I feel a responsibility to remember I am in a process of co-creation. I have the power to intentionally send a ripple (a vibration) of truth and love into the vast ocean of consciousness. And that vibration has a resonance that amplifies the thoughts and voice of one into many.

I invite you this week to consider how you find truth. Perhaps you have trusted sources you use. Perhaps, like me, you are a fact-checker. Perhaps you already have a meditation practice that you follow to bring yourself into balance in a chaotic world. You may feel powerless to change much of what you see going on in the world. But you are anything but powerless. You can change your inner world, and, by so doing, you begin the process of co-creation with others for the world you want to bring into being.

With love,

Cathleen