Honesty Versus Responsibility

A tug of war of the soul

When writing I have to ask myself if I am being honest. Am I writing about what I think people want to hear or is it coming from my soul?

This is why I like journaling — I can write whatever I want and not fear the criticism of others. Believe me, I don’t care much about the opinions of others, but what I do worry about is that an employer finds my name and sees that I sometimes write on Socialism or universal basic income.

I recently told my very industrious friend my feelings on this. I showed her my articles and she agreed that they could potentially pose an issue. I often write about minimalism, Marxism, and in favor of remote work. I could see why this would be an issue, but also why should my opinions on these things influence my future job prospects? People may assume that I am lazy or not willing to work which is completely not true. Regardless, I do see why people could assume this from my writing.

This leads me to another point of thinking about one of the virtues I adhere to in life — prudence. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, prudence is the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason. It is one of the four main components of virtue in Stoicism. In plain English, it means to use justice, reason, and logic to decide what the right course of action is given the current situation.

Prudence in this situation would require me to acknowledge my duty to my family and loved ones. I can’t adhere completely to my values and there have to be some concessions made to make sure I am not putting a drag on my family. I wouldn’t want to be a burden to anyone and I would like to have a sense of self-reliance in my life. Given this, I must be responsible and take care of my reputation.

For example, I could think that external appearances don’t matter and all that matters is the soul (which I do believe). But to not shave and to let my hair grow unruly is a lack of responsibility on my part because…

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