What is bare and what is clothed

When I was young, I always found it difficult telling the truth. Whatever the cause may have been, telling a lie came more naturally to me than being honest. I used to take pride in the fact that I was able to formulate a lie quick enough to get me out of "sticky" situations. As a child, if I broke something valuable, I would make up elaborate lies for the mishap so that I wouldn't take the blame for it. If I received a bad grade in high school, I would convince my parents that the pressure of taking so many classes on top of extra-curricular activities were the reason behind my less than spectacular academic record. In essence, lying became a habit. But of course I would always feel guilty about it. As Mark Twain had said: "If you tell truth, you don't have to remember anything".

After reading this quote, I began to reminisce of my childhood and teenage years. All the years of having to conjure up an elaborate story or a lie to pull at my parents heart strings were definitely tiring. I have no shame in saying that I would lie so much that I couldn't even keep up with them. My interpretation of Mark Twain's quote is that it's easier to tell the truth because it's bare; there is nothing to cover it up nor dress it up. Once the truth is told, what else is there to add to it but more truth? I believe that truth is something that the person who tells it has a strong passion for believing what is told. A lie can have different tangents, keep growing, or be completely irrelevant until it goes beyond control. Whenever I told a lie, I would constantly have to remember what I would lie about. However, when I told the truth, I made a statement and found that I didn't need to elaborate beyond that. I also felt better telling the truth.

Aside from knowing that making up lies can be exhausting, I also knew that a lie had to be creative in order to be somewhat believable. Thomas Fuller states: "Craft must have clothes, but truth loves to go naked". This quote is something that I find relates to my past. I knew that lying was a craft in itself and in doing so I realized that the more I "dressed" a lie up, the more I would get others want to believe in it. There is something appealing about a lie, whether it be telling one or hearing about one. The truth may be less appealing because it has the ability to be believable, honest and straight to the point; it's the naked truth. The images that are conjured up when I read Thomas Fuller's quote were of a lie/craft as an intangible thing dressed up in layers and layers of clothing; each layer more elaborate than the next. I view it has each layer hiding something because of shame in having the truth found out. On the other hand, the image I got about what truth is (also using Thomas Fuller's quote) is that truth is something beautiful when bare. There is nothing shameful about being truthful and therein stems the love of it being naked. Now that I'm older, I feel more comfortable with telling the truth. I believe that the bare truth is more acceptable than a clothed lie, no matter how great it may seem.