Lately I have been catching myself weaving pointless fantasies in my conversations with others. I'm "coloring in" just slightly in my interactions - making small embellishments during small talk to make myself appear favorable.

And after I pause and ask myself, why did I just do that?

I think it's an act of alchemy that runs deep -- a pattern, a quirk, a habit, that I've been using for years without being fully conscious of it. But now I pay close attention to these automations, and I grieve. How many authentic interactions have I kept from myself? How might I connect with others if I were more vulnerable stopped putting on airs?

I'm resolving to tell the truth even in the "little" things, and to reserve entering into Imaginative Spaces for a more appropriate reason and time.

As I begin to practice honesty more intentionally, I find myself celebrating moments of authenticity in small interactions with people. Surprisingly I'm not only able to feel a more genuine connection with others, but I feel more deeply connected to myself. Perhaps this is what was meant to "know thyself" according to that ancient creed.

I feel, with a growing sense of anticipation and longing, that I do not know myself nearly as well as I might, but that my character is beckoning with agape (love) so that I might draw closer, inward, and that by reflection my outward actions and relations might become true and honest in the deepest possible sense.