Truth: A Blinding Flash or a Glittering String of Beads?

There are very few human beings who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious mosaic.  ~ Anaïs Nin, French-Cuban Author. 1903 – 1977.

Hmmm, is that elusive thing we call truth a glittering gemstone or is it etched little by little on the stepping stones we follow through life?

In my younger and more idealistic days, I hoped my truth – the meaning and purpose of my existence – would come to me in moment of inspiration. An "aha moment" when the stars aligned and all became clear.

That moment hasn't happened yet and I don't expect it will. Oh, I still yearn for that blinding flash of light now and then. But I'm becoming more comfortable with the fragment by fragment school of thought that Nin offers.

Life is made up of constant calls to action, and we seldom have time for more than hastily contrived answers.  ~  Learned Hand, 1872 – 1961, United States Judge and Judicial Philosopher

I'm more concerned these days with navigating the twists and turns that life throws at me on a daily basis than with grasping hold of one kernel of truth. I've gotten quite adept at learning as I go along and rolling with the punches.

I do have an internal compass – a set of values and beliefs – that I rely upon to guide me. But where I'm ultimately going to end up I really can't say. And so, I'm trying to live each day as it comes. It's a good day when I can lay my head on the pillow and be satisfied with where I am.

Some days I'm inclined to believe that Frost put his finger on it:

In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life. It goes on.  ~  Robert Frost, 1874 – 1963, American Poet

And then, on the more chaotic days, it seems that Dickinson is closer to the mark:

To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else.  ~  Emily Dickinson, 1830 – 1886, American Poet

I've come to believe that truth is more of a verb than a noun. We define our own truth by the actions we take as we ride the waves and troughs of life.

Perhaps the best we can do is to adopt the metaphor of the Phoenix – the legendary bird that burns itself to death and rises fresh and young from the ashes. Burn ourselves to ash each day and start anew tomorrow.

Let us allow each day to have its own truth and be grateful for it. At the end of our days, our life will have been a string of glittering truth beads that we leave behind as our legacy. Seems about right to me.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of "Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel" – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael's website at www.mdyetmetaphor.comor the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.

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