A Testimonial
Ann K Frailey and Fatima Sultan
After reading Dr. Mehmet’s story on whether claps are poisoning Medium, I decided to assess how I demonstrated my gratitude through claps.
I reread some of my saved stories and decided to discuss why they are wonderful to me instead of the uninformed views I had on claps when I read them.
I am a regular guy, so when a story connects with me, it’s normally because I can relate to its themes, characters, and expression.
Within Ann K Frailey story Possibilities, she tackles time and the budding effect on her thoughts and beliefs.
“Where had the image in my mind come from? Experience, I told myself. History.”
Time can make fools of us, leading us to assume we can foretell the outcome with infallibility — sadly removing the promise of change.
Ann states her confidence in understanding derives from her struggle in navigating the simpler and quieter parts of her life.
“I decide I know stuff not because I have amazing powers of forecasting, inside information, or unlimited spiritual insight, but because I simply want to get a handle on my life and decide between making a hot stew or cold egg salad sandwiches for dinner.”
Having not known anything about Ann before reading this story, I can walk away feeling positive.
That like Ann, my need to understand is rooted in my fragility.
But time can do more than rot the vitality of a cherry tree. It can strengthen the relationship between a father and daughter.
The promise of change means that sometimes we get things wrong.
“My guesstimate would be that we’ve always lived in a world of possibilities. The surprise is not that we live in fantasy lands. The surprise is when we are shaken out of them.”
Fatima Sultan creates a hypothetical victim of rape named Eve that is inspired by a history of American reports, allegations, and shared trauma.
Sadly it was always easier for me to focus on the chronological order of events, reports, statements, and claims. Instead of the historical bias, a victim will mentally and physically challenge to find justice.
“We care more about ruining a man’s career and reputation than we do about ruining a woman’s life and traumatizing her.”
Fatima is one of my favorite writers on ILLUMINATION and I love how she can make a regular dude like me reassess his perception.
“Standing in the courtroom, the judges see a younger version of themselves.”
History and time are painful and it’s hard to isolate a problem without taking all viewpoints into account. So gratitude is in order to the stories and their crafters that encourage you to think deeper.
I will be looking forward to reading more from Ann K Frailey and Fatima Sultan and the stories of the wider ILLUMINATION community. Thank you to Timothy Key and Dr Mehmet Yildiz for the testimonial concept.
