Creative Nonfiction
Standing In My Truth
Over a decade ago, I attended a writing workshop by author Heather Summerhayes Cariou called “Standing in Your Truth.” Heather talked about how the act of claiming our truths requires a level of self-honesty that can be devastating in its consequences, because it may make us face facts about ourselves that aren’t attractive, and that we may have a vested interest in keeping hidden, even from ourselves.
In that workshop, I got to a level of truth that rocked me to my core. I chose to claim that truth rather than to hide from it. And that decision changed my life in ways I could never have imagined.
I also discovered that truth begets truth.
The more I claim my shadow-self, the more real I become, to myself and to those around me. The more I accept the darkness in me, the more able I am to claim the light.
So I’m on a personal journey of recovery and discovery, and I’m finding it the adventure of a lifetime.
If you want to know more, you can read “Body Chronicles” under Creative Nonfiction. In it I claim some of the many truths that have recently claimed me.
Let me know what you think. And if you’re on your own journey, I’d love to know what you are learning about your own truths. This is one expedition that, while inevitably taken alone, can use the encouragement of other travelers along the way.