A Call to Integrity

The quote you should read this entire thing for:

So take that normies who try and put me and those I love in tiny little boxes.

We will fight our depression, our apathy, and our distain for hatred by BEING OUR TRUE SELVES.

in·teg·ri·ty

The state of being whole and undivided.

The word integrity has found its way into many definitions in our modern Western culture, and with that, it has lost its ability to provide direction for many who seek it.

So, if, by definition, integrity is the state of being whole and undivided, then to live in integrity is to be one with oneself. To know thy self, to honor the deep calling from within.

My current read, The Way of Integrity by Martha Beck (2021), as the title gives away, is all about finding and living in whole-hearted integrity with ourselves. Beck is the type of “practice what she preaches” kind of lady. When she realized that constantly morphing herself to meet others’ expectations was making her chronically ill, she committed to a transformative year of radical honesty—refusing to tell even a single lie.

No “Yes, that looks great on you” when it didn’t.

No “I would love to” when she wouldn’t.

And hardest to wrap my head around, but also so clear to me in so many ways, no more lying about who she is, what she believes, or about what she wants from her one very real life.

I have found in my self-work, my coaching work, and my musings that I come back again and again to the term integrity. Allowing it to find a home on this journey. The perfect descriptor for what we are all working to achieve. To become more ourselves.

Feeling more in my integrity than I maybe have ever felt and also still learning each day how to become more and more whole and one with who I am becoming.

What does it look like to move through anger and into action aligned with my integrity?

What does it look like to allow the white lies to die?

To be radically and unapologetically honest?

Do we benefit more from a 90% honest approach as explored in the incredible Christopher Nolan film Interstellar?

Beck and other notable researchers argue that possibly not.

According to Weziak-Bialowolska et al. (2021), lying can trigger physiological responses—how the body reacts physically—including an increased heart rate, higher blood pressure, elevated cortisol levels, and other stress signals.

Taking it another step forward, the same research states, “In particular, there is a strong evidence that interventions comprising signature character strengths (those strengths occupying the highest level in one’s character strengths profile) substantially contribute to increased happiness and life satisfaction as well as decreased depression” (Weziak-Bialowolska et al., 2021)

So take that normies who try and put me and those I love in tiny little boxes.

We will fight our depression, our apathy, and our disdain for hatred by BEING OUR TRUE SELVES.

By telling the truth, making art, and coming back again and again to compassion.

References

Beck, M. (2021). The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self. The Open Field.

Weziak-Bialowolska, D., Bialowolski, P., & Niemiec, R. M. (2021). Being good, doing good: The role of honesty and integrity for health. Social Science & Medicine (1982), 291, 114494–114494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114494