I've been thinking a
lot about speaking our truth, and the potential ramifications of that. This is
something that we've seen come up in the news lately, with Bruce Jenner's
tell-all interview, and here in Australia, a sports reporter hit headlines for
pointing out some uncomfortable – but valid – truths about war in a series of tweets.
In the case of Bruce,
his honest account of transitioning has earned him praise for his bravado. In the case
of the sports reporter, he was slammed for being disrespectful to our armed
forces and lost his job.
In a completely
different category, I recently read an incredibly candid first-person account
of a young American girl living with herpes. Instead of hiding away, she has written a blog about the challenges of carrying a transmittable disease with
such social stigma. Through her candour, she is helping to slowly rid the taboo
around this condition, one reader at a time.
These situations are
very different, but there's a common thread – a willingness to speak the truth,
even though it’s uncomfortable and risky. It would have been easy for these
individuals to stay silent out of a fear of rocking the boat, but for their own
reasons, they spoke up and said what they believed needed to be said. In a
society that worships conformity, this is an act of radical courage.
In order to do this,
they had to let go of expectation or fear about how other people would respond.
They had to embrace the uncertainty of what consequences their truth telling
would have. They had to decide that the cost of not speaking their truth was
greater than any adverse effects of standing up for who they are and what they
belief.
This is such a
powerful thing to do. It isn't about forcing your opinions on other people,
it's about being
authentic about who you are and what is right for you. It
isn't, either, a licence to offend people or cause ill feeling.
Being authentic is
about not contributing to bitchy conversations your workmates are engaged in, that
make you uncomfortable. Not sticking with a career that your parents expected
you to do, but you’re bored with. Not going to the pub every Saturday
night/Sunday morning with your mates when you’d rather be at home doing a
jigsaw puzzle. You can speak your truth without being provocative or offensive.
It takes practise and it takes self-belief but there are always people willing
to show us that it's possible – and beneficial – to choose the path that
honours your own light. If you don't, you're doing yourself an enormous disservice.
Life is short, but it'll feel very long if you're committed to being someone, or everyone, else.