What Happens When You Are Inside the Story?
The Lens You’re Looking Through
Have you ever missed something right in front of you?
You know—like the study where people watching a basketball game for passes completely miss a man in a gorilla suit walking across the court.
One of the most common manipulations is to invent an enemy. The most effective way to do it is to play into existing biases. Over time, it becomes part of the cultural narrative and seems completely normal.
If people can convince us there’s a threat—real or not—they gain permission to do almost anything in the name of protection: attack, control, restrict, dominate.
Once the story of the enemy takes root, people stop seeing what’s actually happening.
The Unreliable Nature of Perception
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: human perception is deeply unreliable. We don’t see reality as it is—we see it through lenses we’ve already bought into.
Once a lens is in place, even obvious truths can become invisible.
Why? Our minds constantly screen reality. We notice what confirms our story and tune out what doesn’t.
Psychologists call this selective attention and confirmation bias, and neuroscientists like Lisa Feldman Barrett show how our brains actively construct perception.
The effect is the same: the lens makes the world we see—and blinds us to what doesn’t belong.
We walk around awake but asleep.
The Power of False Narratives
This isn’t just about politics or history. It’s about how easily we can be recruited by false narratives—in organizations, communities, and families.
Thinkers across disciplines have pointed to this:
Daniel Kahneman: “Narrative coherence” overrides evidence.
Hannah Arendt: Ordinary people, seduced by stories, become complicit in destructive systems.
Thomas Hübl: Unseen collective trauma shapes perception.
Peter Senge: Until we surface our mental models, they run the show.
Shifting the Lens
So how do we change this?
The way forward isn’t just sharpening logic—it’s deepening awareness.
It’s noticing the lens itself.
Pausing to ask:
What story am I already inside of?
Who benefits from me believing it?
What am I unable to see because of it?
Slowing down—through meditation, reflection, or embodiment—expands perception. It helps us distinguish reality from projection and reclaim conscious agency.
Conscious Leadership
In leadership—whether in organizations, communities, or families—our responsibility begins with seeing through our filters. Otherwise, we risk perpetuating destructive dynamics.
Conscious leadership isn’t just about vision; it’s about becoming aware of the stories unconsciously shaping us, so we can lead from truth rather than illusion.
The next time you’re being pitted against something—pause and ask:
👉 What lens am I looking through? Does it serve me, or someone else?
You might be surprised by what you see.
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Julie Bauch is a deep transformational coach who supports individuals, leaders, groups, and organizations. Her work draws from neuroscience, wisdom traditions, somatic healing practices, Integral Coaching®, the work of Thomas Hübl, and a deep commitment to inner and outer coherence.
