March 20th: what is the most important thing in life?

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For me, the most important thing in life is truth. That is to be true to yourself, to speak only the truth, and to listen and give voice to other people's truths. That probably sounds very vague, but lemme break it down real quick.

  • Being true to yourself means knowing who you are and what you stand for. As we go through life, we each build our own value systems. A quick mental glance at mine shows up things like: honesty, justice, equality, learning, and creativity. I live a life that is true to who I am when I manifest these values in my life, for example:
    • HONESTY: telling the truth, and admitting when I'm wrong
    • JUSTICE: getting two sides of the story when kids in my class fall out or have an argument before continuing with the next step
    • EQUALITY: asking girls as well as boys to move furniture, and using inclusive language in class to explain terms like couple, e.g., defining it as when two people (as opposed to a man and woman) are in love with and committed to each other
    • LEARNING: watching documentaries, going to lectures and talks, reading books and, hopefully, returning to college in the near future to undertake further study
    • CREATIVITY: playing and arranging music, viewing art in a gallery, and writing as I am doing here
  • Speaking only the truth consists of fact-checking, and maintaining an aura of skepticism and objectivity. Studying history really made me more aware of things like bias and subjectivity, as has listening to podcasts about religious issues. If you are going to pledge your life to something, have it be something which you know to be objectively true.
  • Listening and giving voice to other people's truths involves fighting on behalf of someone who may not be able to live a life that is authentically true to who they are, for example, minorities, children, or people trapped in situations of abuse or neglect. This is especially important if you have privilege. Just because you haven't lived through someone else's trauma or injustice does not mean you cannot be an advocate for them.
The search for truth is a difficult one, but it is one worth pursuing. I hope you find your truth.

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