Throughout life for the good of ourselves and those around us we will have to share harsh truths. It might be with friends, it might be with coworkers, it might be with family members. But this is all something that we’ll have to do from time and time and be the better for. However most people are allergic to the truth especially when it comes in opposition to their ego or their invested beliefs.
There are things that I knew were true when I first heard them yet rejected them for some time because they went against beliefs that I had spent time and effort investing myself in or were just not something I wanted to believe at that time. Luckily after a process they were able to be digested and assimilated but that’s not how it works for everyone. And one thing you don’t want is for people to turn against the messenger (you) which is a all too common phenomenon.
So how does one go about sharing harsh truth in one’s life and with society as a whole? How does one place that truth within another brain without being attacked or hated for it? How does one reveal the harsh nature and truth of things to the world as a whole without being labeled some negative label and even chased down and beaten? Well throughout history there have been two primary options that I’m going to share with you today.
Sharing Harsh Truth With Individuals
So this is talking about sharing harsh truth with individuals around you instead of the world as a whole. Things like coworkers, friends, families, and even acquaintances sometimes. This is generally direct contact with these people and can often be a one on one interaction. So how does one go about sharing harsh truth with individuals without being attacked or label a pariah (which can have negative consequences).
The best way to do this is through humor and comedy as George Bernard Shaw said “If you want to tell people the truth, you better make them laugh or they’ll kill you.” humor has a way of defusing tension and harshness while still delivering what needs to be delivered. Think of the jester in a king’s court insulting the most powerful in the land but still living.
With humor you could take something that’d be offensive (to a limit) or ego bruising and “soften the blow” so to speak. Obviously there is a limit to this but it helps to communicate truth and make a point without raising the hatred of others. Like the spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down. Except humor unlike sugar is good for the person. So when you need to make a point and express a harsh truth with an individual understanding the basics of humor and comedy can go a long way to keeping them from hating you while getting what you need to across.
Sharing Harsh Truth With The Masses
If sharing a harsh truth with an individual can be dangerous (if just to your reputation) then sharing a harsh truth with the masses is even more so. Granted there aren’t as many physical beat downs by crowds anymore but there are certainly social and reputational ones. Just look at anyone prominent who has said something politically incorrect or not marched in lockstep with mainstream beliefs. Careers and lives have been ruined. So how does one become a sharer of truth on a large scale without this happening to them?
Sure comedy still works to a degree as does anonymity but there is something even more powerful than that. And that is story. With story you can communicate beliefs that people would never accept from simply telling them that a belief is true. Aside from banks, Hollywood is probably the most powerful force in the world for what is accepted and what is not. Stories communicate values whether they intend to or not.
And they do so in a way that people naturally accept. People hate lectures and sermons and automatically tune them out, unless it’s something that they already accept and believe in. However people love stories and can have their minds completely changed on a subject from a story well done. Stories show people things they’d never accept from outright telling them and is one of the most powerful forms of changing minds and shaping hearts that there is out there.
A World In Need Of Truth
We live in a world that is in desperate need of truths, a good majority of them harsh. And if these truths are no communicated or accepted then who knows where we’ll end up. No where good that’s for sure. The world always has and always will be in need of truth and those that can communicate truth to those around them and the masses as a whole without being hated for it. Otherwise the truth may very well be thrown to the side instead of accepted, even begrudgingly at first.
Be a communicator of truth through the methods of comedy and story. You can spread truth to those around you as well as to the world as a whole with these two methods or mediums or whatever you want to call them. They were created for a reason. You might want to check out Story By Robert McKee and The Comic Toolbox by John Vorhaus for great introductions to these things.
