Filters

I need to work on being less filtered.

I always find people refreshing when they are less filtered. When unfiltered people speak what they have to say is usually shocking and ignorant or vulgar or irrelevant or idiotic, but to them, they are just being brutally honest. The purity of those moments where aristocratic politeness is blown over is something that usually lasts. We spend a lot of time trying to cover up those "flaws" we have. We want to seem a certain way, but covering up and hiding what we originally thought just enables us to live with certain uncertainties about ourselves. These unfiltered moments happen to everyone, and the people present in those moments are better for it. Being less filtered means being more honest. Being less filtered means others get to see you as you are and less as you want them to.

We were better at this when we were kids. As we grow older we are more afraid of learning lessons from our mistakes, so we hide our true feelings and don't say the things we think. I want to be more like my nephew who can yell the words "Grandma" and "Penis" in the same sentence in the middle of church.

I had the privilege of seeing someone accomplish a goal today. He has struggled with addiction for most of his adolescent life, he ran away from all his responsibilities, and didn't care much for what anyone expected from him. But then He hit a wall, a very high wall made up of the natural consequences that breaking the law and building addiction will build for a teenager, and decided to make some changes. He graduated today from a therapeutic program, received a certificate of achievement and said his goodbyes. Today his unfiltered tears told the truth of what others were hoping he was feeling. He was proud of himself for working hard at being better. He was relieved that he didn't have to spend the rest of his childhood with strangers. He was scared at the opportunity his earned freedom would provide for him. So, In front of all his delinquent peers he took off his tough guy filter and let them see the honest truth of what made him courageous....and he cried. Then he ended with saying "Brah, i've done some crazy Shit!" I love it! Not afraid to be himself even when expectations are high, maybe that's true humility.