Stillness 8-27: I used to think that telling nice little lies was a good thing. To me, it was as natural as acting on stage. You’re pretending to be someone you’re not for entertainment, art, delight in wordsmithing. When you tell a lie, it’s to smooth over a situation, to avoid conflict or hurt, or to build up your ego in some way. What’s wrong with that?
I don’t think anything is wrong with anything, and there are no shoulds in life. Plays and acting are great gifts of imagination and art. It’s lying to ourselves that does the damage. And it’s speaking a lie our spirit knows is false that creates disharmony in our throat chakra–stuckness and even depression.
Speaking the truth is not about burbling out our feelings all the time. We might feel better after pouring out our hostility or rage on someone, but they’ll be left feeling squashed and dismayed. We don’t have to say out loud everything we think or feel. Truth takes deliberation. Before speaking, I try to consider what Socrates advised his student to ask himself:
- Is it true?
- Is it good?
- Is it useful?
Of course we need to express what we want rather than always wondering what someone else wants, and that can be hard for many of us. People who’ve grown up in stressful, abusive, or challenging homes are often overly alert to trying to accommodate to the situation, instinctively trying to make things right by fitting in, even if it hurts them. Passive aggression or manipulative habits can be the result. What to do about that? Realize you’re a grown-up now and you’re safe and strong. Express your truth—speak up about what you want in as clear a voice as you can. When you speak it, then you start to feel it too. When you realize after a time that nothing awful happens if you say you’d like to sit in that chair or you want to go for a walk, you literally begin to experience the peace and security that you weren’t able to feel as a child.
Speaking our truth allows our spirit to talk through the extraordinary instrument that developed into our larynx. Our larynx looks like a miniature angel in our throat, with wings that flutter when we speak the words that fly into the world. How beautiful is that?
If it’s too hard to speak out loud what you want to say to someone, practice in front of a mirror. Watch yourself and listen to yourself. Sometimes that’s all you need to do to feel better. Your energy has shifted. Your angel has spoken.
Your throat chakra is connected with your clairaudience, and so listening is as important as the words you speak. It’s almost as though the more you listen, the more you know how and what to say.
If you’re feeling blocked, grief-stricken, or enraged but unable to say so, try humming. It’ll wake up the sleeping angel in your throat, who will spread their wings, and touch your spirit with wellbeing.