“No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true.” -Nathaniel Hawthorne, writer (1804-1864)
I believe this to be a fundamental aspect of communication: Whenever I speak to another I also speak to myself. This is why sarcasm is the ultimate lie. Sarcasm is the act of saying the opposite of what you mean while adding enough inflection to make it conspicuous. If I’m constantly reversing my meaning, I may eventually confuse myself and ultimately lose touch entirely with who I am.
“If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.” -Virginia Woolf, writer (1882-1941)
I launched the process of becoming a therapist with one clear intention: to be an excellent therapist. This process changed me in many ways, one of the most notable being a dramatic drop in my use of sarcasm. I think Virginia’s quote is an excellent explanation of why.
Being a good therapist has a lot to do with the truth. And the great thing about the truth is… everybody’s got one!