What is real … and what isn’t?

“As you follow your own way of integrity, the effect on everyone and everything around you may be greater than you imagine.” ~Martha Beck, The Way of Integrity

What’s the difference between fact and fiction? Does anyone care anymore? Today’s photo is a still life showing real fruit mixed with ceramic fruit. If you viewed it quickly on your cell phone, maybe you didn’t notice the difference between the fake and the real — unless you looked carefully.

Along these lines, I’ve been following a couple of news stories having to do with the concept of fake news versus facts. The problem — even when you take the politics out of the equation — is that some people misinterpret fake news as truth.

Remember those old grocery store tabloids that featured absurd cover stories about celebrities who were allegedly raising alien babies from Jupiter or Mars? I always wondered who bought those things. Now I know.

Some people make up their own facts and even change them as they go along, depending on what suits their argument or belief system or imagination. How do we deal with this?

It all boils down to integrity. If truth and honesty matter to us, we live and love accordingly. And I hope, as today’s quote suggests, that those who value integrity over personal power will inspire and influence others who struggle with the concept of truth. ~CL