Historical Perspective

It's been pointed out that history is written by the victors. That makes a certain amount of sense because the vanquished rarely, if ever, have the ability to get their word out. The victors not only control the media and the currency, they've won, and what is taught to the next generation is their version of the past.

Truth, as such, is malleable. There's your truth, there's my truth, and the poet and idealist like to believe there's a real truth.

At this moment I'm not certain. What's engaging me right now is similar to, but not indentical with, that struggle over truth. What's interests me is immediate reactions and how they differ from latter ones. In a way, it's like the battle above, but in this case the truth changes.

My immediate reaction to news can be much different than my feelings an hour or a day later. I wonder which is real, do I talk myself into or out of my gut reaction, the first one, when I later have a different view? Or is it just a typical human response, like a sharp blow that first dulls, then fades.

I can get some news that shocks me, that makes me queston the reality of the world I live in, that makes me doubt myself and those around me. "Is this really happening?" I ask, and when assured it is, I falter. This often happens when I ignore other realities and replace them with my own, and the inevitable collision of the two shatters my own. I get the sharp blow, I reel, and as the saying goes, the scales drop from my eyes.

It's a sobering time, a humbling one, and my ego resists, tries to maintain its superiority, and ultimately fails. What emerges hours or days later is a more chastened self, probably a better one, and I absorb and consume the realities of the moment into my new life.

But I sometimes wonder whether or not my initial reaction isn't true, even if it doesn't last.