My name is Veron Graham. I’m a writer, social entrepreneur, and the editor at Explore Truth. I live in Tampa Bay, Florida, and am and will always, I imagine, be in a desperate search for the Truth in all aspects of life.
Explore Truth began out of a personal paradigm shift of sorts a few years ago. I was 25 yrs old, and I guess I experienced what some refer to as a quarter life crisis. I was in college, but barely getting by. Making money seemed more important than grades, and so along with working two jobs, I was usually fixated on some way to get ahead financially. I did everything from sales, night club promotions, and real estate, to peddling merchandise at flea markets. School and a social life fit in somehow.
It took being academically suspended, a gnawing sense that there had to be more to life, and leaving town for a bit, to arrive at a crossroads, where I basically confronted some foundational questions that I had been avoiding. These questions began to lay a framework and foundation that made changes in my life possible.
The BIG Questions
Why are we here? Where did we come from? Where are we going? How should one live there life, and what exactly do I believe to be true? Confronting these questions head on was just not a major priority in my life at the time. Although I grew up in a Christian home, where looking at the big picture was stressed, I had succumbed to the societal pressures of simply existing. It seemed like all that was worth really understanding, or the poorly understood areas of my religious upbringing, began to creep into my conscious mind, and demand better explanations. Maybe it was a sign of maturity, maybe it was God. I don’t know. All I know is that I returned to finish school a different person.
Apathy shifted towards awareness. A thirst for the real had now been awakened. The act of intentionally seeking the truth was now something I couldn’t avoid. Something just seemed wrong with a life where post collegiate aspirations settled into a life between cubicle walls at a job you tolerated, and a half dead religious experience on the weekends. I needed something more than just that, and quickly began to realize that I wasn’t the only one.
It’s Not Sexy
Truth exploration as it turns out, is not always a comfortable, or convenient venture. Thinking outside the box is both thrilling, and unnerving. But to discover a better way, requires a decision to embrace the questions that made it impossible to just float through life. Life is too precious to live the lie of mediocrity, or to go from day to day, without wrestling with the questions of our human existence.
Wrestling With Religious Assumptions
I began attending church again. Which was something I hadn’t done in many years. With this reawakened desire to engage the questions of life, meaning, God, and more, I figured that church was the ideal place to assist the honest seeker. What I began to realize was that my particular religious experience wasn’t necessarily the place for many questions. It was great for many other things, but a lot seemed to already be figured out. And the atmosphere didn’t seem conducive to open conversation, complete honesty, and deep questioning.
I remember calling my dad one day, and wondering out loud to him.
“Wouldn’t it be nice to have places, where the honest seeker of truth could go, and actually feel okay asking questions. A place where ones religious background, or economic status, wasn’t a prerequisite for belonging. A non threatening place to connect with others who are simply trying to make better sense out of there lives and world.”
I think he agreed with me…
Breaking It Down:
Explore:
To wander without any particular aim or purpose, to examine or investigate something systematically, to travel in search of discovery, to experience first hand
truth:
True facts, genuine depiction or statements of reality.
Truth:
That which is real, in a deeper sense; spiritual or ‘genuine’ reality.
It’s All In The Journey
Today I still don’t have all the answers. I don’t suppose I ever will. But what I’ve discovered is there are many progressive conversations, and resources, that one can tap into to help you on your quest in discovering truth for yourself.
So I began doodling right here at Explore Truth, not as an authority in the objective truth, but simply as a way to share my search with you(so yes, some bias is inevitable). But I also hope, that by sharing the truth about my life, what has helped me along my spiritual journey, and providing a non-threatening and open minded space for fellow explores out there, that this will allow us to connect with each other, and encourage each other along our journeys.
What I’ll primarily be exploring on this site is:
- Intentionally searching, for meaning, purpose, and truth/Truth in our lives
- Challenging religious assumptions, and exploring unconventional ways to practice our spirituality, particularly, but not exclusively, in relation to non-religious Christian spirituality
- Lifestyle Design: Intentionally designing our life to do exactly what we really value doing(career, health, and travel)
Thanks for reading all of that! Feel free to connect with me on Twitter, or Facebook. Let me know if you can relate! It helps me sleep better at night.
The unexamined life is not worth living.
Socrates, in Plato, Dialogues, Apology
Greek philosopher in Athens (469 BC – 399 BC)
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