Truth

Another post that I've been working on for a while...trying to finish them up.

What is truth? It seems like a simple concept...it's what really happened, right? Here's the dictionary definition:

The quality or state of being true: "the truth of her accusation". That which is true or in accordance with fact or reality: "tell me the truth".

I guess I'm looking more at the second definition. "That which is true or accordance with fact or reality." Again, seems easy enough. But the world that surrounds us seems to have such a difficult time with it, and I'm often stuck trying to figure out just what is "true."

We're faced with people who will just flat-out lie to your face. There are people who tell 'white lies', stretching the truth as far as they can without breaking it. There's lying by omission, where you don't outright lie, but don't tell the whole story. There's 'spin', a combination of white lies and/or lying by omission, where you're only telling the side of the story you want heard, not the 'whole truth.' And so many more.

There are also those people that lie to themselves. That's bad, but I don't find it nearly as troubling as those who are such good liars, even to themselves, that they start believing there own lies, so much that they can forget what the truth really is. I have a truly difficult time with them...if they don't know the truth, how can they tell ME the truth?

And how much of the 'truth' really is THE TRUTH? I think there's a large portion of truth that is my perception, rather than what is or is not. I walk in on my son, my cat, and a broken lamp (not really...just fashioning an example.) It is almost certain that the 'truth' to me is going to be that my son broke it. Now, I have a pretty honest boy, and I don't catch him lying to me often. If he tells me he didn't, I'd be inclined to believe him. But he also doesn't like being in trouble, so he has incentive to lie. If he tells me that he doesn't know how it was broken, what is "the truth?" At that point, it's likely that it's going to be whatever I decide it is, taking in as much information as I have.

So...the truth is that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality. But we rarely have all the information...we have that which we are told, and that which we observe, and our best guess. Truth seems to me to be subjective, most of the time. This is something I need to consider when trying to figure things out...there are times when I've been lied to, or the truth has been stretched or spun, or I'm not hearing the whole story, either because it's being willfully left out, or the speaker truly believes it themselves. There is also my perception, and what I decide. The media almost always has SOME agenda, some story they're trying to get across.

With all that to consider, is there any way to really know THE TRUTH, other than just deciding that it is whatever I think it is?

Reunion

I started writing this post shortly after I went to my twenty year reunion, but never finished it. I've got a couple like that...ideas and thoughts that I've begun, but haven't fleshed out enough to finish posting. I'm going to try and do so. Anyway, here's my thoughts on my reunion.

I recently went to my twenty year high school reunion. I was scared to death to go, and really wasn't sure if I would until I turned on the road to go to the place it was at. And had there been anywhere to turn around, I STILL might not have ended up there. But once I made the turn, I was pretty much stuck.

Let me jump to the end a bit...I was really glad I went. Although it turned out a bit like I was afraid of (more of that in a moment), I did get to see and talk to a lot of people whom I missed, even if I didn't know I did until I saw them. I also met some new people, had some conversations, and generally enjoyed myself.

So why was I scared? I never really considered myself part of the 'in' crowd...or the 'out' crowd, for that matter. I was fairly well known in school, and I knew a lot of people, but there weren't that many that I was 'close' to. I had friends, got invited to parties, and don't believe I ever missed a dance because I didn't have a date, but still...I wasn't part of any of the 'cliques.' My fear was that I would show up, not be recognized by many people, or worse, be recognized and ignored. That I would be like I was in school...people would say hello, then move on.

And that happened, to a large degree. Most of the 'cool' kids hung out together. There were lots of hugs and pictures, stories told of the good ol' days, and catching up done on everybody's life now. I was mostly on the sidelines, watching the people go by, occasionally shaking a hand or getting a hug, but mostly just watching.

That was okay, though...a lot better than I thought it was going to be. And while the party was going on inside and on the terrace, I was down by the parking lot hanging out, talking with people who I hadn't seen in years (or had just met.) It was a great time.

I felt a bit like an outsider, but I was ultimately fine with it. I did what you do at reunions...I caught up with a few people, hung out, saw how some of my old crushes turned out (very well, for the record), and actually had a really good time. I'll probably debate going to the next one just like I did this one...but I don't think I'll try to talk myself out of it quite as much. We've turned out well, BHS class of '92. Thanks for the memories.