At any given moment, in places around the world, people interact with one another in good, bad, and indifferent ways.
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 way. Because of who they
are and what goes on in their mind, this is impossible. But that doesn’t mean that
their perception of the moment is flawed. It’s just another perspective.
Sometimes, depending on what a person has 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—or even the world.
Perhaps, they just want to tell a story.
Who Has the Right to Tell the Story?
In a perfect world, everyone would be able to tell their story—whether good, bad,
or indifferent. 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—not just of their own life,
but in the world in general.
They 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 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.
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 will come out.
There will be 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 who hears the story to gets to decide what they do with it (whether they believe it or not or decide to pass it on), but the fact remains that the story happened and that the person it happened
to has every right to share their narrative with others.
