Sometimes those moments change a person forever.
Sometimes, the interactions invoke an emotional response.
Other times, they are quickly forgotten.
No matter the outcome, there are always three sides to every story: your side, my side, and the truth.
Everyone perceives an interaction differently. The moment goes through the various filters that a person has created based on their upbringing, values, morals, prejudices, and personality. Their perception of what transpired then becomes reality.
Very rarely do two people see a situation in the same, exact way. Because of who they are and what goes on in their mind, this is impossible. But that doesn’t mean how they perceive the moment is flawed. It’s just another perspective.
Sometimes, depending on what they experienced, they have a desire to share the moment with others. Maybe they want advice or an outside opinion about what happened. Maybe they want to share something funny or heartbreaking with a good friend. Perhaps, they just want to share a story.
Who Has the Right to Tell the Story?
In a perfect world, anyone would be able to tell any story that they wanted. They would be allowed to have a voice and take up space. They would be allowed to express what happened to them and how the moment made them feel.
Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world, so more often than not, people’s stories and experiences are silenced.
One of the biggest reasons this happens is because one of the parties involved in the interaction has carefully constructed a narrative about their life that has led them to believe they are always the hero. They want to believe that everything they do is perfect and that they are perfect. If anyone tries to question that narrative or their motives, it distresses them beyond belief.
Everyone is entitled to their feelings. People are also allowed to view themselves in any way that they please.
If they want to believe they are the best thing that has ever graced the face of the Earth, who are the rest of us to question them?
If they want to believe that they were left here by aliens and that the mother ship will one day return to pick them up and take them home, who are the rest of us to say that it’s not true?
Again, our perception dictates our reality. It gives us a way to look at and understand the world and ourselves. It gives us meaning. It impacts who we are.
However, the issue arises when we think our perceptions are the only Truth and feel the need to silence others. When one person denies another person the ability to tell their story, this takes away their truth. It makes it seem like their perception of what happened isn’t as valuable or real as what the other person experienced.
Is this fair?
Absolutely not.
Is it right?
No. Everyone should be able to express themselves.
But it doesn’t matter if the act falls into these two categories or not.
It happens. All the time.
People are denied the ability to tell their stories because it threatens to undermine or shatter the carefully constructed narratives that many individuals have created. It’s scary to think that you may not be the perfect person you have convinced yourself to be.
Most of the time, the person who has developed this narrative about themselves doesn’t want to face reality, and they certainly don’t want anyone else thinking less of them, so they go out of their way to silence any narrative that portrays them in anything but a perfect light.
A World of Stories
Of course, when it comes to silencing others, most people don’t say, “Don’t tell anyone what happened. I don’t want them to know the real me.”
Oh, no.
They use threats, coercion, gaslighting, and a whole host of other underhanded techniques to ensure that the other person is afraid to tell their side of the story.
A lot of the time, it works.
But…inevitably, the truth always comes out.
There is always one person who defies the threats and confusion and lets their voice ring out. When that happens, it encourages others to step forward and share their stories as well. This creates an abundance of storytellers who are no longer afraid to keep their truths hidden.
The world is full of stories. Some are good, some are bad, some are indifferent. Some change the people who were involved, some are easily forgotten.
No matter what category a story falls into, a person should never be afraid to tell what happened to them. After all, it’s part of who they are, it’s how they perceive the world.
The person they are telling the story to gets to decide what they do with what they’re told (whether they believe it or not or decide to pass it on), but it doesn’t change the fact that the story happened and that the person it happened to has every right to speak their truth.
