Naked True

Naked

I am on a quest to find the naked me. It is about more than investigative introspection. It is about more than physical presentation and image. I want to be truthful and transparent with myself about the person that I am, what I am capable of doing, where I should be going, and the world around me. I want to understand how much unnecessary excess and triviality is in my life. I want to become aware of how much mental and physical attention I put into the things that others, both knowingly and unknowingly, demand of me. Then piece by piece and layer by layer, I want to start stripping it away!

I understand that for some people the notion of nakedness may seem off color. I do not mean it that way. I cannot think of a better description that captures the message we need to hear today. In an era of fake news and fiction masquerading as reality TV, we need a shocking reminder of things that are dependable and authentic. We need to tear away the falsified constructs of image, literally and figuratively, and find our nakedness. So the idea of being naked shows my commitment to a raw message. There is no better or more-understood way to communicate the bare state of ourselves, which we so easily forget.

In essence, Naked True is my practice of the very thing I am compelling you to do. I want you to approach tomorrow with an understanding of what nakedness is. It is not to be confused with nudity (aka the revelation of one’s nude physical body), although our literal and figurative nakedness has no shame in our deepest and most intimate relationships. The union of marriage and companionship typically offers no fear of personal nudity.

The broader application of nakedness should carry less negative connotation than it currently does. It implies that when artificial coverings are stripped away, the most authentic representation of something is left.

We use the term innocently and quite often. For instance, I prefer to order my hot wings naked or without breading. “The naked truth” is a phrase that suggests what we are hearing is honest and to the point. Perhaps the best and my favorite use is the phrase “the naked eye.” It’s when we see things with unassisted perception. These forms of nakedness capture the essence of what it means to be unfiltered or without augmentation. These naked things are always more authentic representations of themselves than the dolled-up, alternative versions.

Now let’s consider the colloquial inverse. We regularly use phrases that suggest things aren’t so naked after all. The phrase “put lipstick on a pig” portrays the image of taking something gross and making it appear presentable. One of my favorites, which is, “to polish a turd,” speaks to the same upselling of something otherwise worthless and disgusting. We even refer to skin treatments as “makeup,” as if the action were to fabricate something that doesn’t otherwise exist. All these sayings and phrases bring to mind very obtainable visuals for us to contrast.

Some people might find this book’s message unoriginal. After all, the search for truth has been going on for millennia. Author and Noble Prize winner Andre Gide said, “Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening, everything must be said again.”

In that spirit, I say that manymaybe even mostpeople are too afraid to uncover their naked true selves. Nakedness scares us. It carries the connotation of shame. Almost all of us have had the nightmare of emerging from a swimming pool or at a classroom desk to find that our clothes are gone and that everyone is looking, pointing, and even laughing at us. It is agonizing to think that we might be judged without all the coverings and constructs that we have worked so hard to integrate. Who in their right mind would want to be naked, exposed, and vulnerable? But perhaps nakedness is just what we are missing.

True

If being naked is the state of authentically exposing who we really are, then what of the future? What if we do not like who we are? What if we desire to be more? Should we not begin to fabricate that new, better self?

Becoming naked is always the beginning of building a better self. We cannot grow to greatness if we are dishonest about where we begin. We must be authentic and seek the truth about who we are and the person that we should become. It is not enough for a person to present his or her authentic self, for that very self may not be appealing or good. It takes a true evaluation of that person’s present condition and an honest commitment to improve in the areas that need it the most. This process of finding true is self-critical but with purpose.

Today, truth has been rebranded in several ways. We have not abandoned the notion that there should be truth, but we seem to seek it in less-naked ways, especially when it comes to self-reflection. In some ways, we are wonderful critics but not of ourselves. Four episodes of a televised dating show allow us to develop opinions about lifelong love matches, but we must turn to an industry of personality surveys to discover who we are. We identify ourselves as a color, an anagram, or a descriptor that was prepackaged for mass consumption. We outsource our reflections. All the while, it may be less like self-discovery and more like reading tarot cards. We see the truth that we want to see. So we must return to something purer and more certain. We must find what is true.

I do not espouse to be a grand theologian, and I hesitate to label myself a faith-based author. I am and will always be a social scientist who is seeking to understand the intricacies of how we grow and learn. In the spirit of nakedness and transparency, I confess that I believe in the Holy Bible. This is important to note because much of the wisdom I absorb in my life comes from it and the words of Christian leaders before me.

You may not be a person of faith. That should not limit your ability or desire to find more authenticity and truth. Alas, reading scripture often inspires and guides me in thoughts about the grand-tour questions of creation, humanity, and goodness. My favorite author, C. S. Lewis, wrote:

A young man who wishes to remain an atheist cannot be too careful of his reading.

In other words, even though I believe that there are more to the scriptures, their lessons can also be appreciated as allegory. Those who have a Christian worldview please proceed with the same openness.

For a moment, abandon all the filters that you may have set, for having such filters is contrary to being naked true. The purpose of this abandonment is to revisit what makes us civil people. In this book, I do not make declarations of truth. We live in a time of tribalism and dissension. Much of what drives this fracture is being too fixated on debating what truth is when we have not established its importance or a method of discovery. In short, we can’t argue over truth until we commit and submit to its collective importance.

Regardless of the person that we are or the ideas that we bring to this reading, we must begin somewhere. So let’s go all the way back to the recorded account of a beginning. At some point, to find what is true requires that we seek an understanding of where we have come from and the standard of perfection that we seek to return to.

We probably all know about the dawn of humanity. Adam and Eve were made by God. They set forth to live lives of provision and peace in paradise. While they were in this paradise, they were completely naked. Despite being so, they were not ashamed, afraid of the elements, or even cold. They were perfect, but perfection was not enough for them. They sought to know more as God knew more.