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WHAT WE KNOW
Thursday Nov. 14, 2013
What did we know, and when did we know it?
I am working on something right now. I’ve learned some juicy stuff – fascinating, at my finger tips – but it isn’t my story to tell.
Each time this kind of information appears and events come to pass that intrigue me so much about other people – I find myself in a strange stir about what to do with this information, those ideas and that perspective. I have inclination to share but have no right to. And, it is either not appropriate to ask permission to disseminate it, or permission has been refused. Neither is the case this time … but lots of brain machinery is rolling this around in my head.
Sure, I can weave those elements into a fiction piece I am doing – so the value of the funny, the interesting, the sad and the tragic in that story can come to life under the guise of character’s names – but still, so much gets lost in the translation and for the reader’s experience, when a fascinating true story is made into fiction.
What we know about people is an interesting composite, is it not? What we see. What we are told. What we know. What we guess at. What the person tells us. What other people tell us about that person. What we read/google/research about that person. What they have written. What has been written about them.
Still, what does that tell us? We need/want more, try to read between the lines to interpret what it all means – ½ witness, ½ investigative reporter, ½ right, ½ wrong …. sometimes a peculiar mix of getting it wrong, but hopefully more often getting it right.
Here’s the conundrum – when we have the opportunity to ask things we are really itching to know, is it because it matters, or just because we are curious?
What is our right to know?
What is our right to ask?
Yes, exactly – we have no right.
We only have a privilege.
Anyone we ask owns the right to tell, or not to tell, to keep private or not to keep private, the right to tell the truth, the right to lie or avoid or mislead.
Wanting to know is a natural curiosity, and even when we know something or have found out something interesting or juicy or funny – is it our right to tell, to re-tell, to publish or express to others? With permission, of course? Without?
Probably best form to not.
I’ve made that error too many times – not maliciously, but in ways that have revealed someone else’s story when I didn’t have the right to use it. I hadn’t been given their authority to talk about it or to write about it.
Lessons learned . . .
Mark Kolke
201,278
column written/ published from Calgary
morning walk: -1C / 30F, sunny, light breeze, fresh – walks go so much better with parts that don’t ache (thank you Aleve), Gusta happy to be walking a longer route and faster …
Comments Received:
Thank you Mark for this share today. I’m always amused and intrigued by what you share. I admire and respect your insight and humor to everyday life. Enjoy the day ! Keep smiling, always, JS, Calgary, AB
Focus on happiness, and be willing to pay the market price today! Xo, AG, Playa del Carmen, Mex.
How did you know that I was having the same sort of *&(^%$#@ morning? The *&(^%$#@ software I work with decided to delete the results of a process that took a day and a half to create. AARRGGHH! It can be easily re-created in time for Friday morning - it just means I'm waiting for the re-creation before I can carry on with the project. Maybe I'll take some recreation myself this afternoon? And, you're right - in the general scheme of things, this is a mere annoyance - no lives were lost, not even a scratch or a bruise. Some bristled angst and tilting at the software windmill, but I'll survive - and thrive! Thanks for the columns, Mark - good ponderings and always nourishing food for thought. I especially enjoyed FELT DAWN, SAW SUNSET GLOW - I finished reading it just before listening to "The Last Post" on the radio and observing a minute of silence. Very moving, CM, Calgary, AB
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