In Sync
2025.03.05.
Lately, I find myself crossing paths more and more often with people who noticeably influence my thinking. Engaging conversations where our thoughts intertwine, bringing us closer together and inspiring us to start new discussions. It doesn’t matter if it’s a young child surprising me with their purity, a near-retirement man searching for passion in his work, or a woman ten years older than me, inviting visitors to a shared game in an attempt to bring them closer to themselves.
Somehow, life brings us together.
That’s how I met Gábor Heller. A little over a week ago, Réka Bolváry suggested I meet him, saying she felt it would be worth it. I quickly looked him up because all I knew was that he runs the Igaz Történetek (True Stories) podcast, where I had previously come across Réka’s story. A quick Google search revealed an intriguing background: 20 years in New York, where after working as a taxi driver, he became the art director of the world's largest advertising agency; later, he turned to screenwriting (Just Sex and Nothing Else), then company building—he was the co-founder of Bónusz Brigád.
So, I went to meet him. We arranged to meet in a tiny little bakery on Retek Street in Buda. He was already there when I arrived, calm, kind, and genuinely interested as we started getting to know each other. Time flew by as topics unfolded—my questions, my dilemmas—and Gábor seemed to have an insightful story for almost everything. A conversation he had been part of, a story he knew inside out…
A story I could learn from.
For years, Gábor has been building a project where different people share defining events from their lives. So far, I’ve watched four stories, but I’ve been thinking about them. What is this really about?
I feel like I’m starting to grasp the essence of these stories. I initially thought they needed to have a clear moral or a punchline at the end—some tangible takeaway. But from what I’ve seen, these are simply heartfelt, human stories where the real essence lies in how I emotionally connect with them. And some of them hit me hard, flooding me with emotions, bringing tears to my eyes: the elderly man playing the piano on a ship, or the little ballerina who didn’t tell her parents about her accident, even though there was a chance her leg might have to be amputated.
Of course, I know that different moments resonate with different people, or that on another day, something else might have struck me instead. But in those moments, I felt what they might have felt… and I found myself wondering what I would have done in their place. A purely theoretical question, of course, but perhaps that’s exactly why these videos are so important—just like great literature—because they immerse us in situations where we can reflect on our own emotional responses. Through these stories, we ultimately learn about ourselves.
It’s a beautiful thing being built here.
And a very challenging genre, too. It requires so much… If we’re the ones telling the story, perhaps the most important thing is that we value ourselves enough to see parts of our lives as meaningful, interesting, and worth sharing. Then, we need the courage to take the risk—will our story be engaging? And what if it isn’t?
Storytelling itself is an art, but not necessarily in the sense of acting skills or structured dramaturgy—how well we build or embellish the narrative—but in how honestly we can open up. How deeply we can return to the moment we’re recalling, reliving it, resonating with the emotions, becoming vulnerable… whether in front of an audience or in a recording studio. The real challenge is how close we can get to ourselves.
And if we can do this for ourselves, if we can grant ourselves this level of self-respect, maybe we’ll become better listeners, too.
Because there’s the other side as well—the listener, the viewer—who somehow needs to connect with this “creation.” With someone else’s life. But what kind of cultural and societal environment are we in? Do we, in our friend groups, in our families, have a culture of listening without judgment, without comparison, without feeling the urge to fix things—just with genuine curiosity? Can we listen to a stranger for 15–20 minutes and truly immerse ourselves in their story?
These stories don’t offer quick fixes, or even slow ones. They don’t aim to give life advice, career guidance, or self-improvement strategies. They’re simply beautiful, natural.
How do we connect with these quiet, novella-like stories in a world that moves so fast, bombarding us with constant stimuli? How do they break through our threshold for attention? How can ordinary life stories be important enough for us to truly listen?
This morning, I reflected on the videos and on what Gábor shared at the café. And I realized—this project is much more than just a podcast series. It’s really a social experiment, a movement that fosters empathy, openness, acceptance, and—perhaps as a natural consequence—a sense of connection and the courage to be ourselves.
What if more of us became storytellers and listeners like this?
Could it have a societal impact? Probably yes, but it wouldn’t happen overnight. The quality of public discourse is largely shaped by how willing people are to listen to each other without judgment and to put themselves in someone else’s shoes. One of the most significant effects of storytelling is that it momentarily removes the listener from their own perspective and reveals the deeper human experience behind every situation.
If listening to real, personal stories became more common, it might reduce snap judgments, the tendency to see things as having only one truth, and encourage greater openness. Think about how often we form opinions about people or situations without truly knowing their experiences. If we got used to listening first—seeking understanding before forming opinions—it could gradually change how we relate to one another.
Of course, this isn’t a magic solution. The tendency to judge is deeply ingrained in us, in our society, shaped by many factors—media influence, education, social environment. But one thing is certain: if we were regularly exposed to authentic, human stories, they could slowly reshape our thinking and help cultivate a more empathetic, accepting atmosphere.
But the kind of stories we listen to matters.
That’s why projects like Gábor’s are so important. It’s worth taking a moment to pause and give time to these True Stories. And if you feel that your own story could help others, reach out to him and share a piece of your life.
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@igaztortenetekpodcast4450
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The article was translated from Hungarian to English by ChatGPT. Thank you, ChatGPT, for being here.
