'Truth Among Lies'

You know what? No intro today. No small talk.

I must vent. Let's get right into it.

Lying.

Deep.

What is lying? Why do we do it? How do we justify it? Why do we justify it?

Our good friends Merriam & Webster have a definition for the word "lie"; they say if one makes an untrue statement with the intent to deceive, one lies. Let's come back to this in a minute.

To begin with, why do we lie?

Definitely a question worth thinking about. Why do individuals feel the need to lie in the first place? Mayhaps they have information they do not wish to share with others. Or they wish to ensure their reputation remains untarnished in the eyes of their friends / family / colleagues. Or they are trying to protect someone they care about by hiding something and not hurting their feelings. Or they want to get out of a situation and not be held accountable for it. Or they want to be perceived in a certain light, different from the way they usually are.

The reasons for lying may be abundant. Some may be good, some may be malicious. Some may be out of spite, some out of boredom. Some may be as a joke, while some may be harsh and severe. However, do any of these reasons truly justify lying?

I have met several people in my life who say that a lie is a lie, regardless of the situation. Nothing can justify a lie, all that matters is that the lie has been told.

I know for a fact that I would be a hypocrite if I said I never lie, or have never lied in my life. I have lied. Several times. Ergo, I actually disagree with the aforementioned statement (go figure, eh?).

Why? Because of the intent behind lying. This was the point I wanted to come back to. Does the intent with which one fib make a difference to what they say?

In my personal and extremely humble opinion, I think an individual's intent makes a world of difference. For example, what about a friend who chooses to conceal a rude comment made by someone about another friend? Are they not simply trying to protect their friend's feelings? When it comes to personal safety, giving your personal information out at bars or clubs, giving a fake name or number - it is still a lie, however, is it so wrong to want to protect yourself from the crazies out there? Wanting to surprise a family member or coworker or friend while organizing a party for them, isn't that also a lie?

I would consider all of these lies with good intentions; ones that do not harm an individual. These are things that may be revealed later in the future, or may just be swept under the rug in hopes that they would never come up again.

So then maybe there is something else to think about. Is a lie considered a bad thing only if it affects a lot of people? Is a lie socially acceptable if it does not affect anyone except the teller?

Then there is also the subject of lying by omission, where individuals may simply choose not to get involved in a situation, but in doing so, keep information to themselves. Is this stance equally as bad as lying? Sigh, at this point, I feel the need to revisit this again...

And finally, while I try to speculate the reason people justify lies, I am going to make a pretty big assumption. I think that intrinsically, most of us are uncomfortable with the notion of lying. Except for the individuals who think that lying is a socially acceptable norm, those who think lying is not always acceptable will work harder to justify their "lies".

I'll also go further and say this: in the spirit of honesty, I think individuals will use any and every excuse to justify a lie, regardless of it's credibility. And many a times, it will just be the intent behind their lie that they attempt to justify, not the actual lie itself. They have an inexplicable urge to simply clear their conscience, and I think it is this discomfiting feeling and the fear of being held accountable that leads to justification.

Where does my venting come into play? With malicious intent. When people go to great lengths to lie, with the intention of harming others, while pretending to truly care about you, I get very upset. I spent today surrounded by people with deleterious intent.

I would have been less upset with them if they had only ever been spiteful and dishonest with me. However, the pretense of having my best interest at heart while their actions demonstrate everything but, really irks me. In my books, I consider this the worst form of a lie. The thought of underlying agendas and ulterior motives influencing actions of people worries me about the future of this world we live in... </3

So there you have it! I feel like this post needs to be read really fast and in a really aggressive tone to truly understand my frustration about my sitchi-yation. For now, that's all I've got. I must also give apt credit for my title, for it is inspired by one of Jeffrey Archer's novels (Honor Among Thieves).

That's all for now. Until next time someone comes along and ruins my day... *grumpy face*

Hasta la-buh bye!

#ThrowbackThursday: Scottish Edition

Hi all!

Today, I missed Scotland. I missed it so terribly, that it reeled me back to those 4 months - where I had the time of my life.

When I lived abroad by myself, I experienced the true meaning of freedom, empowerment, responsibility, independence, and above all, a sense of adventure. Every day was a new possibility, a new start, a chance to learn new things, visit new places, and even be a new person.

The reason for my sudden nostalgia was a chance encounter I had with a stranger on the way home. A lovely girl who seemed to be around my age was chatting on her phone, and I picked up her Glaswegian accent right away. We struck up a conversation as I inquired whereabouts in Scotland she was from (she was extremely pleased that I'd called her Scottish and not British or Irish). Turns out she was in town for her sister's wedding, but as she was leaving the train, she left with a cheery wave and said something that's been ringing in my ears ever since. All she said to me was, "Hope to see you back in Glasgow one day!"

One day.... and it can't come soon enough!

So anyway, I thought today would be my blogger version of #tbt or #ThrowbackThursday. An interesting tidbit of information about me -- I'm a bit of a photography enthusiast. I'm definitely not a professional, but I hope to be one day. I thought I'd just share a few of my favorite pictures that I took while I was studying abroad in Scotland.

Nestled in those lush trees at the foot of those hills is one of the buildings in which I lived. The campus, as you can tell from this picture was absolutely stunning and abundant with natural beauty. With 400 acres of land, over 100 hiking trails, a 9-hole golf course, a castle on campus and being known as the nation's best athletic university, the University of Stirling was the only choice for me. I met the nicest fellow students, instructors and people in general.

Of course we visited the Scottish capital city and saw the Edinburgh Castle. It may look distant and not small in this picture, but up close, it's magnificence took my breath away. We visited many other places around Edinburgh, like the Holyrood Palace, the Princes Street Gardens, the Scottish Parliament - they were all amazing architectural structures. But being the avid Potterhead that I am, the place that made me happiest was probably...

For once, the crooked-ness of the picture does not bother me; my hands were shaking from excitement. This little coffee shop called The Elephant House staked their claim to fame by stating that J.K. Rowling sat in this very place as she "mulled over a coffee, writing her first Harry Potter novels". Supposedly there was another shop not too far from this one that claimed they were the real birthplace of HP, but I chose to trust the large, attractive sign.

The number of amazing places we saw around Scotland was hard to keep track of. This was Loch Garry, one of the many beautiful bodies of water we saw during our tour. What was it's significance, you ask? The lake was shaped like the country of Scotland! You see? A map of Scotland can be seen in the magazine and the lake is right behind it - the similarities are uncanny!

Another amazing place called Kilt Rock; an absolutely mandatory sight to see in Scotland. A completely naturally formed phenomenon, the long vertical columns of basalt on the far cliff in the picture resemble the pleats of a kilt - a piece of clothing often associated with Scotland. It was a breathtaking view from our lookout point. And even with the strong winds, the freezing temperatures and numb toes and fingers, I stood there for a long time, trying to do justice to the amazing spectacle that stood before me.

I also saw several other places like Loch Ness, The Fairy Glen, Glencoe just within Scotland. Not to mention I also visited 3 other countries - England, Ireland and France! But let's save that for another day. I learned things about Europe, especially Scotland, that I could never have known had I not taken that trip abroad. I learned how to survive and thrive on my own. I came back, a new me.

That's it for now, folks! This was a wonderful walk down memory lane, thanks to Fiona from the subway! It also gave me an idea to incorporate more #ThrowbackThursday editions as we go along.

I have been so unwell this week, that this long weekend has come as a blessing in disguise. I am going to go into hibernation and rest until I am fit as a fiddle.

Until next time, though. 

Hasta la-buh bye!

Proximity.

Aloha, everyone.

You know what I appreciate most about my passion to write? Being able to string and piece many and multiple thoughts together. As y'all may have noticed with my run-on sentences, I tend to ramble. Often times, I find myself jumping from one thought to another, leaving my initial thought behind while branching into a new one or even going off on a complete tangent. All scenarios are equally fun, in the spirit of complete honesty.

So it was through one such discussion that I thought of another interesting concept we tend to overlook many-a-time.

The concept of proximity.

While I think this concept applies to several notions in our lives, taking the current time and my current state of mind into consideration, I'm only going to talk about 2 of them.

1. Proximity in ideas

I think this somewhat relates to my point from before - many people tend to start by thinking about one subject. More often than not, this thought leads to another subject, followed by another, and then another. We have epiphanies and realizations as our brain tries to wrap itself around the magnitude of our thoughts.

I've had countless moments where I've slowly realized that my perception on a particular subject was one of a hundred different ways in which the topic could be perceived. Other times, I have only been able to see the "bigger picture", but I've failed to see the nitty-gritty that comes along with it.

It is times like these, where I like to refer to the definition of proximity our trusted friends Mariam & Webster gave us: the state of being near.

In trying to be near, it seems that we combine, innovate, create, and improve on what already exists, and end up with a unique invention of sorts!

2. Proximity in life

This concept has been chewing at my brain for quite some time. While proximity in ideas seems to offer a lot of positive outcomes, I think proximity in life, especially in relationships is seemingly just as adverse and harmful.

To me, the concept of proximity within relationship entails compromise and settlement. There are times in life when people come somewhat close to the goal they have set for themselves, and suddenly decide that that is the best they will ever do, and stop trying.

While in this case, they would be in proximity of their goal, they wouldn't quite be there. And the comfort, satisfaction and (false) sense of accomplishment this proximity offers, I think, is fairly deceiving. At the end of the day, your initially set goal is still not obtained.

Whether you choose to find another way to get there, or keep trying until you reach it, I think in times like these, we should not rely on proximity and the comfort it brings with it.

Similarly, with people and relationships, I am going to give a very bold piece of advice to y'all - take a chance, take a leap of faith. Don't settle within the proximity of what you want; instead, put that aside and chase what you truly set your heart on.

Maybe I haven't thought this concept through in its entirety, but that's what makes blogging fun. You get a play by play of what's happening in my brain. I may revisit it again, and see whether there are additional developments. But until then, it's a wrap!

I guess proximity matters.

Speaking of play, my heart is permanently broken because India lost the semi-finals at the Cricket World Cup *sobs*

With that - it's bedtime. I'm tired to the point of being delirious; my eye is twitching, I'm feverish and I think I've started hallucinating...

Hasta la-buh bye!