The truth ten ways

Is a photo more accurate than a painting? What if they each have their own strengths in conveying what the artist sees? (Image by edmondlafoto)

Over lunch, my friend Amanda told me about a book she studied as a new mother recovering from childbirth and again in her current role as a childbirth educator.

Hearing the ideas from the book was fascinating. I have never read the book and I’ve never given birth, but so much of it felt familiar. The themes of empowerment, self-knowledge, and growth through difficulty were relevant to my experience, even though this book about childbirth applied them in a different context.

It was helpful to hear these key ideas repeated and reinforced. The fundamental truths of life are deeply resonant, creating overtones that harmonize with each other as the same truths show up elsewhere.

And yet, though the truth is everywhere, it is also elusive. The most essential ideas are the ones we have to hear over and over. They can be the hardest to grasp.

That’s why I keep reading and listening and seeking. It doesn’t matter that the truth I find in the Bhagavad Gita or the Kitáb-i-Íqán matches the truth I’ve already heard in the work of Rilke or Rumi. It bears repeating. And every time I hear it again, it’s like a prism catching the light, no matter where I hear it from.

This is also why I write. I have a handful of things that are important enough to keep talking about; they are in alignment with the truth as I understand it. And today, I’ll talk about it this way, and tomorrow I’ll talk about it that way. Practicing, repeating, iterating. Rolling the rocks around in the tumbler of my mind until they’re polished and smooth stones.

It used to be that I didn’t want to hear from anyone whose ideas were close to mine. Now, though, I understand that the ecosystem of ideas has plenty of room for people to talk about the exact same thing in pretty much the same way. If something matters, we all need to revisit it frequently. Variations on a theme.

We benefit from the repetition even when we think we understand something on the first try. Not only does it help when we hear the truth ten different ways, we get a lot out of hearing it ten times in the same way. Just when we think we’ve reached semantic satiation, fresh nuances will begin to emerge. The well will never run dry, and we’ll never reach the bottom.

This is why I don’t worry too much about being original. Plus, I try not to worry about saying the same thing over and over. And I don’t get annoyed like I used to when I see the same ideas being shared again and again out in the world. That’s the deal. We’re all swimming in the same sea.

I can’t remember anymore which of my ideas I came up with and which ones I didn’t. I don’t think it matters. Things don’t need to be new and original. Today’s sunset is the same as yesterday’s because it’s the same sun, but it’s also different. Like Monet with his paintings of the Rouen Cathedral or a Deadhead following Jerry, Bob, Phil, and the gang to tape every performance, I can put all of my effort into capturing the subtle changes that arise when everything else stays consistent. I can build on the work of others.

I’m pretty sure I’ve referenced Monet and the Rouen Cathedral before on this blog. Well, so be it. Apparently, if it’s coming up again, it’s relevant again. I don’t promise that anything I say will be unique, and I have come to realize that that isn’t where the value comes from. I hope that I can remind you of something true and thus help you to more fully embody that truth in your life.

And if the way I present it doesn’t land, I’ll try another way. There are infinite ways.