Each of us should be allowed to maintain our integrity in ways that matter to us. Each of us is entitled to consent–and each of us is asked to respect the consent of others as they maintain their integrity.
How do you respect the integrity of others?
For a very long time, I did not feel like the words I used to describe my identity had integrity with who I really was. It turned out that I needed to learn new words, and then I needed to give myself permission to describe myself in new ways.
-Michael Tino (CLF)
What are the words you use to describe your identity with integrity?
Living with integrity can bring a fulfillment that is not always available to people in a society that teaches us that we are broken or wrong. Looking back on our lives, we can witness places where we felt the fulfillment of integrity, and we can seek to recreate them as the new day begins.
How have you felt fulfilled at the end of the day?
In the 1930s, when “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” was released, children learned of a jolly bearded gift-bearing man who “knows when you are sleeping and knows when you’re awake. He knows when you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!” If integrity is what you do when you think no one is watching, it’s a wonder children who grew up with this song ever developed any.
-Lori Stone (CLF)
How do you recognize and embody integrity?
“Let the life I live speak for me.”
-African-American Spiritual, as made famous by Sullivan and Iola Pugh (The Consolers)
What does your life say to others?
