I don’t like animals that make noise and don’t stop. I dislike hearing constant barking or pecking or those noises domestic animals are wont to make whenever they’re bored or just trying to be annoying.
Because of this, I don’t have much affection for our turkeys. They arrived a month ago and, thankfully, remain in their section of the house. This would’ve been great but for the simple fact that noise doesn’t care about boundaries.
The male turkey in particular drives me nuts. Whenever he hears a sound—a door shutting or a conversation louder than whisper grade—he gobbles. Loudly. I’m home 24/7, working from 9 – 5, so his incessant gobbling distracts me big time.
Yesterday evening, however, two things happened. Our dogs barked and the turkey responded with his signature gobble. My uncle chuckled and told our visitor, “He likes laughing. Every time he hears noise, he’ll just laugh”.
Laugh? Is that horrible sound supposed to be laughter?
When I heard him, though, and saw how he laughed it off and continued watching his movie, it hit me that it really is a matter of perspective.
We hear the same cackle every day, but just by deciding it is the laughter of a happy turkey, he has saved himself the headache of being disgruntled about the noise and has a better quality of life for it. On the other hand, because I have tagged it ‘noise’, my ears pick it up every time and it grates on my nerves each time.
The second thing that happened occurred when I retired for the day. Our neighbour’s children were playing loudly and the turkey gobbled along. It wasn’t long until the kids realised he was responding to every loud sound they made.
They soon made it a game, taking turns to make sounds and laughing at his response. They were so happy. I sat in my room feeling like the grinch and hoping I didn’t take that attitude anywhere else—being too serious I forgot how to find the fun in things.
So, yes, that turkey gave me a lesson on perspective: reality is what you make of it. There are many ways to interpret a turkey’s gobble, and whichever way you choose will determine if you gain one more inconvenience or glide through life satisfied.
If you’re a writer, here’s a note for you. We can tie this lesson to storytelling. As a writer, you have the power to make ‘we’ll be together forever’ the sweetest thing a reader sees or the scariest promise they’ve ever come across. A turkey is either a hell spawn with its incessant cackling or a jolly feathered friend celebrating each moment. It’s all about your POV.
You could play with this to create conflict in your stories. Are your protagonists looking at something from different perspectives? Is this thing dismissible or large enough to cause a misunderstanding? How can you milk this difference in perspectives to deepen your stakes and create a bigger rift between your characters?
Because whether it’s a 6 or a 9, it can cause a war when the stakes are high. And like we say here in Nigeria, ‘raise am raise am!’ Raise those stakes by having people argue on an issue of perspective.
