Illumination Writing Challenge
This I Believe
The Indubitable Declaration of Timothy Key
This piece is in response to B. A. Cumberlidge. prompt which asks us to relate our true meaning in life:
That is a heady topic, and as I considered what to write, I realized that it is July 4th, the day that America celebrates our independence as a nation. Sometime around 244 years ago, a group of pioneering spirits sat around and crafted a document that offers the phrase, “These truths we hold to be self-evident…”.
This is such a bold and confident phrase. These weren’t mere “ideas” that were self-evident, but rather proclaimed as truths. This confidence of belief simultaneously appears both admirable and foolhardy, for who can truly know what wisdom will stand the test of time?
But perhaps it is this confidence that has us, even today, looking back across many eras to try and find guidance for our path in a world that remains as perplexing today as it surely was then.
This boldness of character, and the certainty of conviction of our forefathers has me pondering what truths I hold dear, and consider to be self-evident?
- I believe our existence here on earth remains mysterious, and as such, it is difficult to know our purpose.
- I believe, given the above, that we are each allowed the opportunity to define our existence.
- I believe that we are all interconnected, and while we can consider ourselves to be self-reliant, and we can physically isolate and insulate ourselves, we are never, truly, alone. (I owe Joe Luca a nod on this because his great article on The Myth of Independence provided me with some much needed clarity on this point recently.)
- I believe that, because we are so interconnected, we do not actually have free will. That is, we can never truly act independently because each and all of our decisions manifest some impact to others. And, due to that impact, there is always some resultant guidance or correction that shapes our next decision or move.
- I believe the universe is reflexive, supported by the concept that every action creates and equal and opposite reaction.
- I then believe, given our interconnectedness and the universal reflexiveness, that we are always best served by promoting the best interest of others over ourselves.
- I believe that acting in a purely selfish and egocentric manner creates a self-imposed form of purgatory, or suffering; we just may not recognize it immediately.
- I believe that in the occasions where we do find it imperative to act exclusively in our own self-interest, that it is most always a form of reset or reaction to circumstances to allow us to realign and return to place where we can support others.
- I believe that these truths are scalable, and as such, concepts such as nationalism are hugely counterintuitive and damaging. Chest thumping under the guise of solidarity or patriotism can be dangerous, and we always need to carefully examine our motives when we find ourselves doing just that.
- I believe that love, compassion and gratitude are more powerful than hate, contempt and condescension.
- I believe in family, and I believe that we all can create deep and powerful friendships with at least a few people during our time here.
- I believe that we need to do things that scare us sometimes; otherwise we never grow and change to the extent we really should.
- I believe in the power of saying “Yes”.
- I believe that you can find beauty anywhere; but you have to look for it sometimes.
- I believe one of the most powerful things you can do is change your opinion when you realize that you were wrong.
- I believe that it is our responsibility to occasionally stop and ponder the beautiful or mysterious or sublime; to do so is what makes us human and allows us to reconcile our beliefs and actions with the world around us.
A sincere thank you to B. A. Cumberlidge. for posing this question. To be honest, I had avoided it, in part, because I wasn’t sure what to write. I didn’t set out to be this profound, but in a moment of quiet on a July 4th morning my brain decided it did have some self-evident truths.
I think I captured these more for myself than for anyone else, but I appreciate all who have read this. Brian didn’t tag anyone initially, so once again, I want to pull a few people in who might be game to participate?
Eli Snow, Daniel G. Clark, Tree Langdon ♾️, Eashan Reddy Kotha, Paroma Sen, Keno Ogbo, James G Brennan, Uchechi Obasi, P.G. Barnett, Charles Roast, Sherry McGuinn, Joe Luca, Rasheed Hooda, Infiniti, Paul Myers MBA, and Holly Jahangiri.
I came at this from the philosophical approach, but I also think this prompt invites a more lighthearted angle, or perhaps a satirical twist as well. I can’t wait to see what people come up with.
Oh, and one more thing:
I believe that you should always either honk or hold your breath whenever you drive through a tunnel. It is just self-evident.
If you like this, you might like some of my other recent writing, including my July daily roundup of writing challenges such as this one:
And a recent response prior to this challenge:
And a wrap up of June’s final week of new writer stories:
Timothy Key spent over 26 years in the fire service as a firefighter/paramedic and various fire chief management roles. He firmly believes that bad managers destroy more than companies, and good managers create a passion that is contagious. Compassion, grace and gratitude drive the world; or at least they should. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and join the mail list.
