The Truth

I was watching a pretty strange video on youtube the other night, looking for something to post on videosift. It was talking about different concepts of time and making the statement that humanity is moving toward a point in time which it described as a singularity, amongst other names.

It had a fairly apocalyptic view about what this point in time might look like, including chaos and the disintegration of all human constructs. It held a rather grim outlook and had a slightly fanatical feel to it, so I decided against posting it. There was one idea, however, that really struck a cord with me, like it held at least a grain of truth.

What it said, was that we could expect at that point in time, that there would be no such thing as truth.

It feels that we are fast approaching this situation. It feels more and more that the truth evades us at every moment. The media doesn't present the truth, leaders don't express the truth, neither do corporations or even individuals. In this case, that's not to say it doesn't exist. There is truth behind why the U.S. invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, even if we haven't heard it yet.

I suppose this is not a complete example of the idea they expressed, because it implies that there is truth somewhere and that we only have to find the right source.

What I'm talking about, is the absence of truth altogether, or at least the absence of one singular truth. The area where I see this happening the most is in health care.

When we go to a health practitioner, we expect them to be telling us the truth about our condition and treatment etc. It is their duty to tell us the truth and so we follow what advice they have to offer, believing that we are taking the best course of action.

How is it then, that depending on what kind of practitioner we visit, whether it be a mainstream doctor or alternative therapist, their diagnosis, and suggestion of treatment can vary wildly? How is it that clients of these different kinds of doctors can heal equally well?

Even within the mainstream medical profession, if you could get two different doctors together (say from different generations, or different states/countries) you probably wouldn't get much agreement happening, yet each one believes that he is offering his informed professional opinion, which is his interpretation of the truth.

The simple explanation is that alternative doctors are all quacks and that if a client heals under them, it was probably going to happen, anyway.

The less simple explanation, is that there is no truth regarding how humans heal and that there is no one right way to go about it.

So the difficulty for people who are trying to seek treatment that works, is how to become best-informed. Depending on which doctor you speak to, or which website you use to research a particular kind of treatment, you will be told many differing points of view. How then, do you access the truth and choose the right treatment for yourself?

I've had a lot of success with alternative practitioners. The first one I went to at age 22, got me to change course with my eating/lifestyle habits and basically got me onto the path of caring about what I put into my body. I was drinking heavily at the time, smoking pot, not eating a balanced diet and wondering why I had diahorrea, urinary tract and yeast infections.

It was a great start to a new way of living. The next practitioner I met introduced me to reiki and energy work, which got me to start examining my relationships and the effect they were having on my health/state of mind.

The next wonderful person I encountered, saved me from unnecessary use of anti-convulsants and helped me get through the post-natal hormonal upset I was experiencing.

Since then I have become a dedicated follower of preventative alternative therapy, getting regular massage, cranio sacral treatment, naturopathic care, kinesiology and the occasional reiki treatment.

It feels right to follow this path, because I have experienced many positive effects over the years, not only with my own health, but that of our children.

I am not against mainstream doctors. I feel their care has a place as well and when Sophia broke her arm, we got her to hospital as quick as we could. The surgery they performed did a fantastic job of healing a very bad break and she had a very good outcome.

For minor stuff, though, I don't bother with GPs or hospitals if I can help it.

Brian and I have very different ideas about how to manage health. It's been a sore point in how we parent together and it can get pretty frustrating.

If anyone should feel frustrated, though, I suppose it should be Brian, because he really has given the role of how to manage the children's health over to me, for the most part. It's a pretty traditional role, I guess, along with him being the primary income earner and really allows me to seek out the care that I feel best suits them.

Sometimes I really wonder, though, what the truth really is, about all the decisions I make. Am I doing the right thing? Am I wasting our money? Am I endangering our children? If I took wikipedia on board, the answer would be yes.

The only consolation I can find at this point in time, is a feeling I get that wikipedia doesn't have sole rights to the truth.