Secret
Keeping
“Nothing
makes us so lonely as our secrets.”
Paul Tournier
Is there
any such thing as a kept secret anymore? What with Google and every other search
engine monitoring our every move, how could there be? My daughter in law told me
she shopped online at home and later that day, the things she had looked at
turned up on her computer at work. Even if we turn everything off and lie to
everyone, our techno-overlords are always watching and recording. I saw a photo
of OJ Simpson the other day and thought that if his crime had been committed
today it would have gone viral in half a second. No trial necessary.
Some of
us have technology paranoia. We constantly try to thwart the system. A friend
asked the other day if it is “illegal” to put the address of a random business
into your GPS instead of your home address because she didn’t want anyone to
know where she lives. Unfortunately, your address is a matter of public record
if you own your own house—anyone can find it.
Keeping
secrets in the technology age is impossible unless you live off the grid on the
side of a densely forested mountain with no cell phone—and even then, there are
drones and satellites. Keeping secrets of a personal nature is almost as hard
as hiding from technology. Benjamin Franklin said in Poor Richard’s Almanac,
“Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.” If you tell anyone your
secret, then it’s no longer secret, right. And that person may have the best of
intentions, but depending on how combustible the secret is, it will burst forth
at the least opportune moment. Which is why, we simply ought to live openly
(unless we’re in witness protection or planning a bank heist or such). Just
live in such a way that there’s nothing to tell, nothing damning to discover,
and nothing you can’t live with if others find out.
Here's the assignment: Open
wide the shutters of your misspent youth and wipe down the cobwebs of shame;
shake out the curtains of ugly family secrets, bag up the pain of lost
relationships, and pull the drapes off all your mistakes and fears. When there’s
nothing left to hide, nothing left to hide from, you’ll breathe deeper and
sleep better. Be like a window in the morning sun. Be transparent.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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