These days whenever I hear someone say, “The fact of the matter is” it makes me nauseous and suspicious.
I read somewhere, “A fact is a social agreement to stop thinking.” Even if that’s not a completely true fact, I like it – because the part of it that is true, is really important. When most people say, “The fact of the matter is….” they usually mean “This is what I want you to believe.”
Both sides of recent discussions on the “disproof” or “proof” of the fact of there being a human energy field, that can be mobilized through bodywork, have been a case in point. One group says with conviction and passion, the fact of the matter is the human energy field exists. Another group says with equal fervor, the fact of the matter is the human energy field doesn’t exist.
Maybe they are both true. Maybe we should let these “facts” co-exist side-by-side like resonating strings and see what we hear then.
That’s my plan for now because I really don’t know what the fact of the matter is. I do know that to me neither answer is fully satisfying.
It reminds me of Rilke who said, “Take your practiced powers and stretch them out until they span the chasm between two contradictions.”
photo by kendallkendall