Truthspeaking

Imagine a place where there are no lies
where gossip is just a meaningless word
and people naturally speak with respect
The air is not laced with cursing
and there is no shame or judgment
The expression of all feelings is welcomed
Even anger and fear are regarded as gifts

In this place, you can trust in another’s word
There is no need for doctrine
as each person knows her own Truth
Even without it being spoken
you can read it in her Heart

Everyone’s Truth is heard
as listening is valued even more than talking
And each person’s voice is held sacred
There is no need to sweeten it with humor
or mask it with doublespeak
They call this, their cherished way of sharing,
Truthspeaking

I wrote this book for one reason—to incite a revolution of the Heart. For too long we have been taught to say what others would like to hear, and what makes rational rather than relational sense. We have been encouraged to be assertive, but we have not learned how to listen. To tell the truth is our ideal, yet most of us tell dozens of lies every day.

In the coming pages, we will reacquaint ourselves with a way of life based on the gentle, clear, and heartfelt communication which the American Indian Elders I apprenticed to called Truthspeaking.

Notice that I said “reacquaint.” You and I already know Truthspeaking: we are genetically programmed to be spontaneous, in-the-now beings with astute expressive and listening skills. We evolved the ability as a matter of survival.

It is only since we have become urbanized that we have begun protecting ourselves by suppressing our thoughts and feelings—and defending ourselves from the thoughts and feelings of others. This book shows how to dissolve those boundaries, so that we can again say what we really mean and hear what people are really saying.