The Art of Conspiracy

I don’t know about you, but my inbox, my messenger, emails and social media have been bombarded by well-meaning friends and family sharing all sorts of conspiracy theories about 2020.

Of course, it has been A YEAR. And of course, we’ve had the additional fodder of Covid-19 — a literal breeding ground for the incredulous.

Now I’m going to share with you that ever since my naïve, innocent young soul was twisted upside-down and backwards by my first conscientious Political Science instructor, I learned just how important it is for us to QUESTION.

In fact, I’m begging you: DO, PLEASE, QUESTION.

QUESTION EVERYTHING.

Just for example, imagine my surprise when I was sitting in my hairdresser’s chair as she was sharing a list of “persons and companies of interest” in a particular hair-raising conspiracy theory and we discovered that my author name and two of my books were on the conspiracy list! No kidding.

• M. Bridget Cook (Now M. Bridget Cook-Burch)
• Shattered Silence
• The Witness Wore Red

Fortunately, this woman I adore went further and texted her source a bunch of clarifying questions. . .and discovered that I was actually on the list because I expose conspiracies.

Whew!

Still, I just want you to see how quickly that could have gotten out of hand. She could have run screaming from the room. Instead she knew me well enough to get her facts straight.

I know what that takes.

I have had to do intense research to find out real truths. I’ve had to go straight to sources and not trust media directly because I have seen at least a few egregious mistakes. They can misconstrue. They sometimes use sources that didn’t get their facts straight. In The Witness Wore Red, we had to ignore normally credible sources and interview literally dozens and dozens of people. Then we got to experience the miracles that came out of exposing the truth so that tens of thousands of people could become empowered by it, and millions be educated about it.

In regards to being on a conspiracy list, this was the second time in less than a year that I’ve been initially accused of something I’ll just call “interesting”.

Just six months ago, when I reached out to my true birth father from a DNA test, his children rightly questioned. Who was this crazy woman claiming their father was also hers! The first thing that came to their minds, however, about this man they adore had to do with the fact that he was once a CIA operative and cryptology expert in the military, so I simply must have been sent by Russia’s KGB (now FSB).

Imagine, me, Svetlana the spy.

(Teehee. It almost cemented it when they learned I had a minor in Russian language and studied European and Russian Poli-Sci.)

You see, conspiracy theories and fear-based theories generally start with some grain of truth, and then people, with fear, mistrust and confirmation bias firmly in hand, can morph them into something completely unrecognizable.

The cool part of my story?

The truth on all sides was much more beautiful and life changing. I now have three more brothers and a sister, all of whom I have quickly come to adore. We’re still getting to know one another, but our relationship is based on trust and love, not suspicion and hate.

Then there are some real, nasty truths, my friend.

Real truths, that expose ugly secrets. It IS important to expose these. I have had the privilege of bringing great light into some of the darkest areas of humankind. This is called transformation.

So my invitation to you as a leader, an author and an influencer is this: share only what you have had the audacity and boldness to research to its very roots.

If and when you ever do find something rotten at the core of something, I challenge you to expose it in a professional manner. Research and write about it. Bring light into that darkness.

Just for fun in this week’s free Summer of Writing Adventure, I challenge you to pick a topic from the following and make a completely outlandish, bald face lie.

Why? Because I invite you to see how using a grain of truth can be a dangerous thing.

It gives food for thought about the incredible power of your pen. Storytelling is an art and skill. When you practice, you realize the art behind what others have created during this year of uncertainty and so much fear. This actually empowers you with much greater skills to question what comes across your desk.

Just because it’s in a book or on the internet doesn’t make it true. I hope it will be a consciously empowering tool for telling your truth to inspire and build up the world instead of destroy it.

Be aware.

Question.

Research.

Be careful of your confirmation bias before you pass something on. Be honest in reporting facts.

Believe in the Power of Story to Change the World.

Just do it truthfully.

I promise, you will love your beautiful ripple of integrity.