Last night while I was sitting on my couch watching one of Alfred Hitchcock’s spectacular late 50’s films, I received a family group text from my Texan father who was asking why the news media doesn’t tell the truth anymore. Having grown up in Texas but also having spent most of my adult life in continental Europe and New York City, a couple of thoughts on how to respond, given his more conservative views over my own, crossed my mind. However, holding back on a political statement, and after some replies about the genius of Hitchcock directed films and the beauty of Grace Kelly, as well as 1958 Cadillac limos, I pondered how to respond in a way that would open up a dialogue and provide an insight into what I think is happening to the “Truth” in our society. This morning I replied with a view that fell something along the following lines.
What is true to you is based on your view of the world, which is turn is based on the experiences you have encountered and the thoughts, associations and biases those experiences created in your mind. For example, in mention of the word “work,” one person will immediately be triggered to think of the drudgery of getting up to go to work, the oppression of their toxic boss, and the lack of having a raise for several years, among many other associations. This person will view work as a chore, a necessary evil, and that association with work will likely deplete the energy of this individual. This individual may view large corporations as evil and may support politicians who are proponents of corporate regulation. Another person however may associate his work with his passion in life, may look forward to waking up and getting to work and may be so happy to be paid for something that comes so naturally to him. This person will view work as a gift, a pleasant experience, and will have a different view of other activities related to work and may support institutions that enable business to be more successful. One word, “work,” two different responses from two different people, each response equally true to each individual. What is the universal “Truth” about the word “work,” probably somewhere in between, but we can only view the truth through the individual filters of our own minds and arrive at our own true/truth. Similarly, when watching a news cast or reading an internet site, what we believe to be true or not is based on our own thinking, associations and biases about the topic being analyzed. News media often plays on our biases and assumptions to elicit a particular response, often along political party lines, and it is up to each of us to challenge our assumptions and biases to arrive at our own true. We each have the ability to make our own assessments and conclusions rather than letting our automatic and most often unconscious thoughts, associations and biases determine our conclusions.
As we grow up and experience life, our beliefs and assumptions are highly impacted by the people, places and things that surround us. What region of the country/world to we live in? What is the predominant religion in our community? What is the predominant political thought on our community? What television programming do we watch? What internet sites do we visit? Do we travel to other regions and countries where people think and act differently and do we judge those differences or learn from them?
We are each unique individuals with our own innate personality, quirks and oddities that make us unique and valuable to our community and the world. In being ourselves, we are being the one thing that no one else can - we are able to make our unique contribution to the world by simply being our authentic self. When we challenge the assumptions and beliefs we hold that no longer serve us, and in particular those that we did not choose ourselves, and replace those assumptions and beliefs with ones that are true to our authentic selves, we create a life of our own choosing and create our own true/truth. In doing so, we are not only able to more effectively make our own unique contribution to the world, but we no longer need a news service or internet site to tell us how we should respond, we only need the facts. The facts are out there (pictures, alternative news and websites), it up to us to do the work. Create your own true. Be authentically you.