Truth or Perception

"The truth of our lives is always smoke and mirrors." 
- William Giraldi

No one perceives events as they really unfold. Our ability to alter facts has enabled us to survive in this challenging world. In recall, creativity weaves in the details.

To understand how perception alters an event, consider three people who observe a car wreck from different corners of the street. Angles, moods, and times of observation change recall and affect where each person places blame.

Marcel Proust felt in order for it to be meaningful, we must change the truth a little to remember it. If we embellish for self-protection, will an event stay with us in meaningful ways?

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, “A lie may be told by a truth, or a truth conveyed through a lie. Truth to facts is not always truth to sentiment.” Stevenson continued, “To tell truth is not to state the true facts, but to convey a true impression, truth in spirit, not truth to letter, is the true veracity.”

Are we storytellers by nature?

Emotional memory differs from factual memory because of the psychological colors added. Moving away as an observer helps to process an unfortunate or stressful situation.

Write about an emotional experience. 

Play the storyteller and add texture to the scene. How does emotional distance benefit the story?