Honesty's Absence in our Culture.

In my short time home, I've managed to find one of my long lost companions, Aaron Gomez, a jovial Puerto-Rican fellow who spent all last year in Alaska with his father. Aaron and I don't really go way back, but back far enough. We work at the same summer camp and have shared many an awesome adventure. Once upon a time we wrote scripts for three episodes of a sitcom that thankfully have been lost in time, but we shall perhaps collaborate again, once I get the green light from the camp director to write the play for the summer.

This is not about him though. It's about the tail-end of a movie I watched when I went to his house to find him. He and his (rather cute) cousin were watching Liar, Liar on the television on some cable network. That was unfortunate because they edited out some great content, but it was fortunate I saw it, because it really is a nicely done movie and not just a generic watch-Jim-Carrey-do-stupid-things movie. Anyways, onwards...

How honest are you? Think about it. I'm willing to bet you've lied within the past twenty-four hours, if not two hours. People these days just lie a lot. I do it too. I lie to convenience myself, and what I believe to be conveniencing others, from either a harsh brutal truth or an awkward embarassing one. Sometimes, I lie without ever having too, because I've conditioned myself so. I don't know about all of you, but that depresses me something awful.

So what can I do about this? Is there anything I could do to help myself and others to lead more honest lives? In these past few months I've realized that being honest and straightforward is really not as difficult as I made it out to be. It's actually kind of rewarding, to know that you stepped forward and let the truth stand beside you, erasing all the dark murky icky feelings that are buried deep within when you know that you've kept from being honest for the sake of yourself or even others.

I tend to write on myself a lot. To-Do lists, or things I need to remember. Sharpie, or any kind of (non-toxic, so shut up about ink poisoning) markers of any colors. I don't have much to write down now, these carefree days at home, where plans are made on a whim and schedules are mere abstractions.

I think I might keep tally marks along my wrist-forearm of how many times I lie in a day. I won't tell anyone, the few that actually read this won't be affected or could interfere. Maybe I'll suprise myself by how many, or how few, marks I'll make. This might get messy.

Your/(My) Homework: Find a cooler plan to make people more honest.


Another cool idea from a movie: Pay It Forward.

I'd like to try that one too someday, but these days, there aren't too many incredibly nice things I could do for somebody. I'm limited to mowing my lawn and paying gas money.

And on a different note: I hate the concept of money.
more on that later....maybe....