Tomorrow, April 30th, National Honesty Day in the US, prompts me to write this blog post. The topic has been in the forefront of my conscious for months as I noodle with close friends about “radical honesty” (full transparency, for the sake of integrity, rather than “honesty when convenient”).
This stock photograph made me think even more… adding the “L” to create an adverb suggests to me a way of being, a way of living in my truth and sharing that with others.
A big pushback I hear regarding radical honesty is that it’ll be used to hurt people, which I can see if I didn’t believe in compassion (for example, “I want someone to go jogging with, but you’re so out of shape you couldn’t keep up”). Of course that is going to be hurtful and candidly, you can hurt another person with or without honesty.
The trust I have experienced, that gets created upon a foundation of honesty, is what makes it worthwhile. Knowing that my friend, lover, acquaintance is committed to standing in their truth and communicating any associated feelings… provides energetic space for me to share my truth, regardless of who may judge me for it. Most of us have been conditioned by society to “adjust” our disclosure based on who is listening and how they’ll respond.
There is a freedom that comes from reaching a point in life where we decide that someone else’s judgments are their issue and will no longer stop us from experiencing life as we do.
I invite discussion around this topic on the Singles Salon group within Facebook — what will/did you do differently on Honesty Day?
PS. If you want to surround yourself with more of this fresh thinking regarding your dating, please join us for 8 Great Dates: Masterclass on Cultivating Authintimacy for Spiritual Singles Over 40 — the Dating Reset course relaunch!