Fact-checking

Benjamin suggested that one of the things that makes Carapace a safe space is that no one is fact checking the stories:

You are speaking

from your soul,

and when you realize that you are in a safe environment

and no one’s going to fact-check you,

because nobody knows your life better than you do.

And when you realize people genuinely care,

One of the few “rules” for the storytellers is that they are supposed to be telling true, personal stories. However, no one is really going to challenge the storyteller on the facts of their story. As Benjamin points out, it is assumed that the storyteller knows their personal story better than anyone else. I don’t think he meant this as license to make up whatever you want. But there is safety in knowing no one can say, “the story doesn’t go that way.”

Later on, Benjamin brought up something that almost disproves his point about no one fact checking.

I’ve only seen two different people tell the same story.

Well, it almost happened tonight,

so twice.

And once was

when you told the story of

your bad tooth,

and then John told the story of your bad tooth

from his perspective.

And then tonight,

a couple of years ago I told the story about this woman who

started working at Barnes and Noble and

didn’t know I had cerebral palsy,

and I told her “walk this way,”

and I walked across the top of the store,

and she followed me doing my walk.

Sometimes there are people in the audience who also lived that story with you. I’ve had that experience when John (my husband) has come to Carapace with me and I’ve told stories that involve him. (Also with my mother, Denise. She actually told a story about me in August.) I don’t think Benjamin’s friend was there when he told his version of the walk story, but he was there in September when she was going to tell her version. When an audience member was part of the life event the story is based upon, they could dispute your version of the truth. But so far, what has happened is that there is room for the different versions of the story. Which is kind of beautiful.