Thandile
“Not all that glitters is gold”, “Don’t judge a book by its cover” are phrases we so commonly throw around, whilst casting shade on very serious issues. We are accustomed to saying things that we have no depth of revelation of ; or barely believe. One may argue that it lies in our different levels of understanding; but either way this aspect of deception deserves further interrogation.
As human beings we spend so much time and effort on how things appear. Our own appearances often takes preference over other crucial aspects of life. Is it because we care way too much about what people think? So much so that we desperately paint a picture that may be far from the truth.
Truth is such a highly moralised ideal but not very well pursued nor centred in our lives. We may love the idea of truth; but very seldom love the actual truth, or even hearing the truth. This is especially so when it conflicts the seamless picture we would like others to believe. Hence we are guilty of living a lie and selling that lie to the world.
Many things have the appearance of wisdom but are rooted in foolishness. Many things have the appearance of beauty but are filled with the ugliness of evil. Many display confidence but underneath those masks are individuals scared to death of their own weaknesses. Scared of being discovered for the fraudsters they are; they invest highly in ensuring that what you see is what they want you to think.
Appearances are highly deceptive because they often hide what is really underneath the surface. Sadly we are so prone to making decisions based on what we see on the outside that we rarely sift through the layers of complexities to extract meaningful understandings.
In most cases fear is at the root of efforts to conceal the truth. Fear of many natures but why we fear is a question only the individual can answer.
We have to face the truth about ourselves and boldly embrace that which is. If we can be truthful about who we are and our journey then we could effectively find answers that would take us forward. Therefore minimise wasteful efforts to convince others of that which we are not.
Try by all means to be mindful of complexity, contradictions and human frailty; as it will help not to take things at face value but dig deeper because things are rarely ever what they seem. Mistakes will be made but with time we grow and learn what really matters. The journey will perfect your knowledge and show you the way less travelled.
Hope this will ignite something in you and bring clarity to some of those complex life issues.
Love T
