Part 2: Telling the Truth

As I have confessed before on this blog, I used to tell loads of lies in the stories I shared on a blog I set up in 2013. I am glad the friends with whom I shared my blog stories never realized I often lied, and if they did, I am glad they never instructed me to stop deceiving them.

In mid-2016 when I saw the light, I resolved to stop lying. I made that resolution after I rebranded this blog to what it looks like now. So I created a perfect atmosphere to start writing truthfully.

But you know what? Even though I have strived to keep my resolution, I have at times found myself chipping in a few lies here and there in an attempt to spice up my blog stories.

In December 2016 for instance, I shared a blog story in which I said that I sneaked out of Starehe Boys' Centre on Sundays during my college days in the school because I thought it wise to interact with the outside world instead of getting confined to the school throughout the week yet I was an adult, complete with a national identity card.

The truth is, I can't remember thinking that it was wise of me to interact with the outside world. In fact, I wasn't that social during my college days at Starehe. I often felt lonely while in the company of the youths that I joined in church on Sundays in my hometown of Kiserian.

Then on Christmas Day of 2017, I shared a story titled "The Thuita Doctrine®". I put the ® sign to impress my blog visitors that I had taken time to register my doctrine. And at the end of the story, I warned my readers not to quote the doctrine anywhere without my permission.

The truth is, I hadn't registered the doctrine with any relevant authority. It was untruthful of me to claim that my doctrine was registered as an intellectual property. I was just telling a lie in a way I wasn't used to.

Perhaps the most flatulent lie I have told since I rebranded this blog in 2016 was adding a ™ sign to the blog title, "Reflections of a Young Man". I added the sign to make my blog appear special and important.

The truth is, the title of my blog wasn't trademarked. All I did to have this blog recognised as my work was registering it with the Kenya Copyright Board. The © symbol on my blog is therefore justified, but the ™ sign was inappropriate.

You see, this blog is like a book where I share my thoughts. And I don't see many authors adding a ™ sign to their book titles.

Peter Mwaura, the public editor of "Nation" (Kenya's leading newspaper), once advised me that it is improper to trademark ordinary words like "Reflections of a Young Man". Despite his advice, I persisted in displaying the ™ sign on my blog.

Early last week, an inner voice whispered to me that I get rid of the ™ sign on my blog. The voice made me swing into action. Sooner rather than later, removing the sign became an obsession.

Because I had put the ™ sign in all my blog pages, removing it ate into my time. But in the end, not seeing the ™ sign on my blog satisfied me. At last, I am not deceiving my readers that my blog title is trademarked.

Apart from removing the ™ sign, I have also corrected other lies I have told in my blog stories. Part of correcting lies has been acknowledging the people whose words, ideas and images I have used in my stories.

And why have I taken the effort to correct the lies? Because I reason that since people spend time and money to visit my blog, they deserve to hear the truth. Furthermore, I understand that the more truthful we are, the more others relate to our stories.

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story on telling the truth, you might also enjoy part 1 of the story which I wrote several years ago. Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the story.