As a writer of personal essay and memoir, my experience is the same. The primary reason I write anything is to sort out my thoughts, to get at the “truth.” I’m relentless in stripping away the bullshit, the mental trickery I use to feel more comfortable with myself and the world.
But comfort isn’t useful in the long term (unless of course you’re happy being a sheep, a lemming, or any other animal that blindly follows the herd. And I’m pretty sure none of you are in that denial-loving camp.)
Which Naturally Leads Us to a Dead German Philosopher
In my History of Literary Criticism class we’re studying Nietzsche, who believed it’s human nature to want to know the truth, but only if that truth doesn’t hurt.Our minds are so good at seeking what agrees with what we believe or want to believe, we even shape what we read or hear to fit our worldview. A selective translation, in a way. It reminds me of how you can read your daily horoscope and it will always seem true - we pick and choose the words that apply to our lives.
But the process of using language as a way in to the truth, even if that truth seems to be ever changing as we gain more experience and, one hopes, wisdom, is valid. Nietzsche believed that the artist is a “prime example of an individual responding joyfully to the challenge of shedding the illusion of truth.”
We write to shed that top layer of what we know as the truth, only to get to the next layer of “truth,” shed that one, and so on. Ultimately, I’m not sure what we’re left with, though I agree that “The Truth” is a slippery concept and ultimately an illusion. The trick is to be brave enough to keep stripping away the layers and turn a ruthless eye on what we say, how we act, what we think. It might not be pretty, but at least it’s honest.
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In preparing for this comment, I want to be truthful in saying I read some Nietzsche, I had just finished reading a book on Socrates, and so I reread a piece I thought might apply. Then I read Peter Bishop who assembled some 500 pages on Nietzsche from various papers submitted at a convention, in which was formed a book. Of these I met an author named Johann Joachim Winckelman, a prussian.
And so, my comment is entitled:
"Un Uomo Di Poco Conto" translated means a man of little account.
And that is how I got at the truth. And this is what the truth means to me:(My fifth grade english teacher taught me never to begin a sentence with And. Somehow for this comment it feels right.)
If there is beauty in truth, then to me truth is beautiful. A simple concept I'm saying the same thing semantically a little different. Which is also to say I'm definitely not mincing my words.
Winckelman, who was murdered because he was thought to be a man of little account felt beauty to have three levels: He felt it functions in three ways.
If you are going to peel away or as you say strip away the layers to get at truth. Then I ask you to consider these three layers you may find.
"Beauty envelops a work; it displays its material origins; and it shrouds its hidden depths." - Winckelman 1764 History of Ancient Art
Truth will envelop a subject, it will display factual origin and yet it will keep hidden a depth of beauty, that only when seeking the reasons in truth will you find this, an underlying beauty, a depth of understanding that you had not yet realized. - The Tusk
I'll close with a Nietzsche coda:
Be the sort of man you learn to be.
And these two quotes from Einstein:
Albert Einstein
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe.
Albert Einstein
As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.
The Tusk
The truth for me is your inner beauty DK, and the depth at which it is shrouded.
And, that's Life on The Surface.
I don't know that I can define truth, but, almost like pornography, I recognize it when I encounter it. If it shows up on the page I'm writing, my hand stops to savor it. If it shows up on the page I'm writing, my eyes stop to reread it. If it shows up in my mullings, the almost constant tightness in my chest dissipates--replaced by a thrilling calmness and the thought that all will good. If I can just remember the eternal truth I just recognized.
Tusk - love the quotes, it gave me plenty to continue thinking about. Thank you.
Ann-Marie - I know what you mean about that moment of recognition. Hanging onto it, carrying it into everyday life is the trick.
One last thought on truth. I just read Mikal Gilmore's astonishing book, Shot in the Heart, about his family’s life and his notorious brother Gary Gilmore.
Mikal said, “In real life, the truths of our hearts and memories never finish running their risks.”
for me truth is my authentic self expressing itself. it's a sense of a deep calming. when that truth is expressed fully, it's almost like having an "AH HA!" moment. your soul nods in agreement, your heart rejoices and every cell in your body tingles.
~kath
Kath - I totally know what you mean. It's almost like you can hear a "click." I read this quote by Audre Lorde yesterday, which not only relates to what you're saying, but gave me that click:
“Once we know the extent to which we are capable of feeling that sense of satisfaction and completion, we can then observe which of our various life endeavors bring us closest to that fullness.”
I'd been thinking about some of my past experiences - which to pursue going forward, which not - and this Lorde quote is an elegant frame to look at them and decide.
Hello from Russia!
Can I quote a post "No teme" in your blog with the link to you?
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