sharing her awesome life and her desire to have community while doing it!
“I despise these deceptive illusions, all this pretense and nonsense…” - David
I read this quote in one of my favorite books and it seems fitting for today.
Deception, Illusions, Pretense, and Nonsense. Let’s talk about these words—because they all, in one way or another, seem to be rampant in our society today and identifying them is important.
Deception defined is the act of causing someone to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid. Can you think of a time in your life when you were deceived? Do you remember how you felt? This happened to me a few years ago, and honestly—it was terrible. I felt dumb for not realizing it. I felt taken advantage of. And I felt confused by how someone could do that. My naivety, in some ways, felt like it had been stripped from me in that instance. Here is the thing about deception though: most of the time, you don’t know that you are deceived. Ugh, the worst! And that situation, a few years ago, was really eye-opening for me because out of my entire friend group, I was the last one to catch on. They all caught on, one by one. Then eventually, when what felt like a spell or a curse had been lifted, I was shocked and a bit annoyed at myself for not seeing. This is why tribe matters, because good friends and healthy relationships help you to avoid these instances more often than not. Tribe will look after you in these moments. The other thing about deception is that it likes to stay hidden and keep you confused. So if you feel confused or in a daze about something or someone—speak up. Tell a good, truth-speaking friend, because it just may be a cloak of deception trying to trick you.
Illusion is a misleading image presented to the vision; something that deceives or misleads intellectually; perception of something objectively existing in such a way as to cause misinterpretation of its actual nature. What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word illusion? I think of a clown or a magic trick. Did you think of something else? (If so, please leave us a comment below.) Back to illusions. Upon further thought and ruminating over the definition, I began to think of Instagram. I say this often, but I thoroughly enjoy social media. Especially Instagram. It is my favorite social platform. Pictures are my thing—both posting them and looking at others. But all of us can very easily become illusionists on social media. Maybe unintentionally. Maybe intentionally. Either way, to put yourself out there through words or picture based on how you want to be perceived rather than by who you truly are is an illusion. So I would encourage you to take inventory of yourself. How are you giving yourself to those around you? To the world? And Is it an accurate depiction of you?
Pretense is an inadequate or insincere attempt to attain a certain condition or quality; a claim made or implied especially, one not supported by fact. Ever been affected by pretense? {Insert every hand going up} We all have. I think it's inevitable. As a human, this will happen to you and you have probably done it to another. We do this a lot with people we don’t understand or those who are different than us. We, a lot of times, can lead with pretense and that can be dangerous. It keeps our society divided. For example, to refuse generosity to a person in need (i.e. a homeless person, because you assume they will buy alcohol with it) is a terrible, yet common pretense. Pretense divides. Kindness unites. Choose to be unassuming with those you do not know. What you will find most often, is that people are delightful.
Nonsense is defined as words or language having no meaning or conveying no intelligible ideas; language, conduct, or an idea that is absurd or contrary to good sense. This one seems pretty self-explanatory. Don’t be cray-cray and if you know someone who is, just love them back to wholeness. Even if it puts you out, makes you uncomfortable, and/or the likes there of.
I believe we actually have a shot to really make our corner of the planet beautiful. To leave it better than we found it. So let’s do that. Let’s be unassuming. Allow others in, show them the authentic you, and learn love yourself well—so you can love others well in return.
I would love to hear from you on how you have/are beautifying and unifying your corner of the world.
Happy TribeLife.
Carrie
No comments:
Post a Comment