Over time I have come to realize that people make their own ideas in their minds about you, a circumstance or situation, about themselves and others, and about the world in general. Conspiracy theorists, for example, will spend all their time and efforts uncovering some truth that they perceive to be real or not, and although they’re not 100% sure that it’s true, they believe it more than the reality that general society has placed before them to believe. You might say that they’re extreme cases to bring up but really the same could be said about people who adhere to specific ideologies, religions, or political affiliations.
We all adhere to specific stories the groups we affiliate ourselves with tell us about the world that aren’t necessarily considered real by opposing groups, but those stories are the ones we choose to believe as real in our experience. In the reality of a Christian, Jesus Christ was/is the messiah who sacrificed himself for our sins. For a Jewish person however, Jesus was yet another prophet and the Messiah hasn’t arrived yet. Muslims alike, believe Jesus was a prophet who lived, but the prophet whose teachings they believe and follow is the prophet Muhammad – the final prophet of God. Hindu people’s realities don’t even acknowledge Jesus at all, for them their Gods are Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Devi, Krishna, and so on. Then we have the Buddhists who have similar beliefs and realities to Hindu people, but reject the Hindu caste system, rituals, and priesthoods. Likewise, people who are politically affiliated with one party or another have their own ideas about the realities of the people who preside within their nations as it pertains to their differing social identities - i.e. Male, Female, Gender Non Conforming, Gay, Straight, Bisexual, Black, White, Native, Christian, Muslim, Migrant, Neuro-divergent, Neurotypical, Differently abled, Disabled, Mentally ill, Incarcerated, and the list goes on.
Each person within the confines of society and the world at large creates their own reality in their mind that is informed by their lived experiences, their cultures, their ideologies, their morals, religious affiliations, political affiliations, restrictions placed upon them by society or a circumstance, etc. If you consider that every person has their own ideas/stories regarding themselves and the world around them, then it’s easy to see why one person might not agree with another’s narrative of events and how they unfold. It’s easy to see why some people and groups turn to animosity and division where these stories are concerned. It’s also easy to see people impose their views on others and feel as if they are entitled to tell others how to live. It makes sense if they feel that their story about the world and life is 100% correct and is the right story for all people.
I am not here to judge or decide what is right from wrong. I am also not here to point any fingers at any one person or group of people regarding human rights or truths. I am simply here pointing out that the truth is subjective and reality is informed by individual experiences rather than a collective entity like we’ve been taught our entire lives. I know we all have to pass through institutions that teach us the sky is blue and that humans are the most intelligent life forms on earth, but what if that reality isn’t true? What if the sky isn’t actually blue but the color we see is a byproduct of scattering of electromagnetic radiation (of which light is a form) by particles of a much smaller wavelength that is reflected in a blue hue to us? Because, that’s what it is according to science. And what if humans aren’t the most intelligent lifeforms on earth, we just haven’t been able to properly communicate with other older and probably more sentient beings like plant life? Because several religious doctrines and science have also confirmed that plants are sentient beings with consciousness. And what would happen if we were able to accept multiple truths in place of just one for well-known facts? Like, what if we were to accept that 1+1 doesn't just equal 2, but also, it means community?
I believe that earth is full of multiple worlds that collide and merge and bypass each other daily. It’s easier to imagine it like a crowd of people with different bubbles hovering over their heads full of whatever may be running through their minds at the time; mental bubbles full of the inner works of each of those people’s different worlds and realities. And just like the bees have their hives, and the ants have their colonies, each of us have our communities that make up the bulk of our worlds as we perceive them. And how great would it be if we could acknowledge and respect each other’s realities even if we do not agree with them ourselves?
Thank you,
Carmen Hernandez-Candelario
