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"I Haz Mouth"or ("The Unexpected Virtue of the Truth")

5/1/2016

I forced myself to vomit. And it felt great.

I forced myself to vomit, because I was in terrible physical and mental pain from eating something bad and the hurt would not go away.

The pathetic part is that even as I was eating the offending food (carrot juice that I had opened weeks before), something inside of me screamed "don't" but I did anyway.

Deciding I was going to make myself vomit and then actually going through with it was not easy. Just when I thought I was ready, I chickened out, choosing to continue to suffer instead. When I finally got up the courage it was neither pleasant nor pretty, yet as soon as I did, everything -- physically and mentally -- shifted. I instantly felt better.

As I was lying in bed, relieved of my suffering, it occurred to me that forcing yourself to vomit is the exact physical equivalent of forcing yourself to tell the truth.

In both cases just even hearing the word for some people -- never mind the actual act -- makes them uncomfortable. Also, honesty, like its physical counterpart, takes courage. It seems easier to suppress the truth and live with "it" (whatever that "it" is for you), because there is a risk that being truly honest will turn out neither pleasant nor pretty. And while getting the truth out makes you feel better, it is easier to chicken out and suffer instead.

But just like there are times we have no choice but to stick our finger down our throats, there are times we have to reach down into our souls, find the truth, and puke it out. Not easy, but once we do everything shifts and we instantly feel better.

Of course, just as we wouldn't literally vomit indiscriminately all over someone with the attitude of "but it makes me feel better," we have to be conscious of our no-holds-barred honesty. Both can be done in a way that relieves the pain, but without everyone feeling soiled afterwards.

In one final continuum of the analogy, I've learned that some people are like carrot juice. Your relationship with them may work for a time, but sometimes for whatever reason it goes past its expiration point. You hang on, even though something inside you screams "don't" every time you are together. So unless you want to find yourself feeling sick and constantly needing to vomit out the truth, you will have to face that it's better to leave the carrot juice behind once and for all.

I look at you & all I see are expired, liquified veggies! (artist: Jason Han, "I Haz Mouth", 2009)

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"I Haz Mouth"or ("The Unexpected Virtue of the Truth")

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not seeing clearly refractor turnedto the rightnow viewing our Puppyin a whole new light

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﻿Author

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not seeing clearly
refractor turned
to the right
now viewing our Puppy
in a whole new light

Author