Ok. In my case it’s a small phrase, and I was just talking to hubby about this last night.

The phrase is “my truth”, and I fully appreciate and understand why people use it. Nothing would prevent me from engaging with any one for speaking their truth, however, I firmly believe that truth is not something that can be claimed. It just is, and often “my truth” is based in perception, experience, and interpretation of truth, which could actually be harmful.

I said this to my husband last night, and I also said that the truth is often the base of beliefs people claim as personal truth. For instance, I could say my truth is that designers don’t spend enough time connecting with their clients. However, that’s not necessarily based in the truth of the situation. The truth is, I’ve found that a few designers I’ve experienced haven’t allotted enough time to connect with their clients based on my standards, and so I’ve created my own perception of what that means.

Now I don’t actually believe this, but you get the gist. I’ve come to a conclusion on all designers based on my limited experience of a few. Then if I were to share this belief publicly, I’ve now created a public perception, based on a perceived truth that could be harmful to the design community at large. But here’s the kicker. I’ve claimed this as my truth. So even though I can have caused harm, I don’t claim accountability for that harm because it was my truth and not the truth.

Now obviously, this is not the case with everything, nor am I silly enough to believe that everything people claim as their truth is somehow harmful. Ultimately, I just think there’s no claiming what is. And my truth can’t negate your truth, whether you believe it can or not. Truth is truth.