More on Reality

All of us know about reality: death, gravity to cite a few quick examples. Reality is that thing that exists no matter how strenuously one denies it or changes their behavior to avoid it. It is there. Ever-present. And it is not going away. Ever. Most everyone, I believe, would agree that to deny reality is as fruitless and foolish as it is nuts. While to do so may not necessarily be risky, but at the very least, it is silly. But it can be both. For instance, my wife has a birthday coming up in a few weeks. If I choose to deny this reality when the actual day arrives, then the consequences of that will be undeniable - for me and her. Reality is no one's friend. At the same time, it is no one's enemy except when it's existence is denied. Yes, I have blogged about reality before. But it is a topic that needs to be highlighted as often as possible these days given the fact we seem to have a government that denies reality on a regular basis. Climate change? Doesn't exist. Never mind the terrible fires and hurricanes that we are experiencing. Wearing a mask to safeguard against COVID-19? Not important. Scientists, of course, have been shouting from the roof tops about these realities. Yet leaders who should know better have been using their bullhorns to spout the opposite. The consequences of denying the hard-truth of those realties represent reality in its most blunt form. Effective communication at its best is when it is wrapped in truth. Truth comes from fact. The best of our communicators base all that they say and do on both. They do not wrap their outreach on opinion or spin at the expense of truth and fact. That seems obvious enough. Yet spin continues to dominate so much of our airwaves. No wonder the heads of so many of us seem to be spinning all the time. Being witnesses to ongoing wrong-headedness is exhausting. No wonder people are either protesting or turning away.