You’re a filthy liar. You lie all the time. Even when you think you’re not doing it, you’re subconsciously incorporating lies into your day. You are very good at lying. You just love it. This post is about how much you lie. How much we all lie.
‘Do you like the colour of my new dress?’
‘Can you guess my age?’
‘How was your day?’
Do you want an honest response or a pleasant one?
Sometimes our answer is too brutal, so we replace it with a friendly substitute. Deliciously enter: The Lie.
‘I just LOVE that dress!’
‘You’re about [an age number that won’t offend].’
‘My day has been good, thanks!’
It’s polite to be nice. It’s nice to be kind. It’s called social bonding. That’s what matters. Besides, it’s not a real lie if it’s told with good intentions and a smile, right? It’s fellowship. Accuracy doesn’t matter. In the scheme of things, an opinion on a dress is nothing. It isn’t end-of-the-world stuff if your day has been bad. Making someone happy and affirming a relationship counts more.
‘You must be in your thirties.’
‘I’m EXTREMELY well, thank you.’
No one loses. No one dies. No one is disadvantaged. They’re not real lies anyway. We call them relationship affirmations.
Humans can keep from speaking the truth many times each day in many ways. A wide latitude of subjectivity exists around all things. Your interpretations will be different to mine. Don’t forget that creativity plays its role too.
Santa Claus. The Tooth Fairy. The Easter Bunny.
Lies.
Okay, they are stories. Stories (non-truths) are woven into the tapestry of culture and language to entertain and delight. They are comfortable lies. We wear them like clothes. Again, it’s about sustaining social bonds. The truth need not apply if it teaches a lesson, brings a giggle, or leaks a thought-provoking tear.
There’s another little lie that snakes its way in and out of conversation.
Silence.
I LOVE this one. Truth abstinence is sweet and oh so cunning. It’s a lie that never touches lips. Don’t get me wrong, silence isn’t always a reptile of the forked kind; sometimes it is just what it is: nothing- a nil-response with zero information and intention.
Yeah, right. I hear you.
I’ve bitten my lip many times just to keep the peace at work, at home and with my family. Not every thought in my brain reaches my mouth. That’s silence.
Let’s say you have just been informed that you have terminal cancer and, rather than creating worry, you decide to take the less-is-more approach and keep all the information about the prognosis to yourself. To everyone else, you’re well and always will be. It’s a lie, but kind thoughts surround it. You didn’t deceive your people; you gave them a comfy pillow, a warm blanket and a nice cup of hot cocoa instead.
That’s nice.
Words are just thoughts with sounds. Until someone says them, thoughts are nothing. Faith carries silence. Listeners snuggle up to it because they trust in faith.
But if they don’t believe, then what? If that happens…
…oh WTF. Do I care? That’s just philosophical gibberish. You either choose to believe in what someone says or you don’t. In SEETHINGS, trust, faith and silence become weapons that develop from little white lies.
You won’t see the biggest lie coming when it finally arrives. Your jaw will drop. Read SEETHINGS!
–Michael (Author of Dark Fiction – see below)
SEETHINGS II follows the return of the Storm Killer as a body on a secluded beach in Moreton Bay, igniting fear and denial. While police dismiss the link, the media doesn’t. Mitchell Felding forms a dangerous bond with a man who understands his darkest impulses. When Natasha enters his life, carrying love letters from her murdered mother, intimacy deepens, and truth closes in. Some futures are inherited. Some have escaped.
Discover more from Michael Forman – Author of Dark Fiction & Drama
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