Being Creatively Honest

My father was a brilliant man when I lived in the Deep South. When I had a particularly pointed criticism or comment that I felt needed to be shared, I often couched it in the common terms of that area, "My daddy used to say . . ." I wasn't quoting his actual words, so it usually wasn't "true" literally, but it was more polite - and that was important in that culture.

My father is not classically educated, but he is the very definition of wise and filled with common sense. He rarely sounds academic or intellectual, but he also rarely sounds ignorant. In many ways, "My daddy used to say . . ." would be translated more accurately as, "My daddy taught me that . . ." That, however, would not have sounded so familiar to the hearers - so I didn't draw that distinction.

I have thought often since then about what "honesty" really means at the root level - and particularly about the possibility of being creatively honest. It's been an interesting process.