Everyday Canvas

What Happened vs. What Should Have Happened

Prompt: “There are moments when history and memory seem like a mist, as if what really happened matters less than what should have happened.”
Karen Joy Fowler, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
What are your thoughts on this and do you believe what really happened is more or less important than what we think should have happened?

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I think what happened is more important, most of the time; that is, if we can really validate what really happened. As human memory is faulty and the brain tends to create its own version of reality, what really happened is never too clear, unless it is copied or filmed by a machine, and then, even machines or cameras can distort what is in their sight. Historians also distort the history, no matter how they try.

As to what should have happened, we might say that, for example, instead of the Civil War, peace between North and South should have happened, but this is after the fact and amounts to zilch. The only thing that may be beneficial about the what-should-have-happened is that we can learn from it and try not to separate our nation in two, no matter what takes place.

The same goes for people, for what happens to them, among them. If parents constantly fight and do not try to find a common ground, the family and especially the children will suffer. When families suffer, the neighborhoods, and eventually, the nation may suffer.

In such instances, to focus on and study what should have happened can be more advantageous than repeating or reliving what already occurred.