Greek mythology tells the story of Troy, an ancient city surrounded by stone walls. During the legendary conflict between the ancient Greeks and the people of Troy, the Greeks laid siege to Troy, forcing the Trojans to barricade themselves within the walls of the city, refusing to let anything in.

In essence, a human is Troy. The human has walls. The walls hide the tangled mess of hysteric emotions that refuse to even peek over the barrier and deal with the even more fantastically chaotic mess that lurks on the outside. These dividers serve as the first and most important line of resistance against any intruders of any kind.People build psychological walls to protect themselves from being hurt. It’s a natural defense mechanism. The theory is: if no one gets to know me, no one can make me feel bad about myself. In actuality, size of these barricades varies from person to person. Some people prefer to hole up behind the Great Wall of China, whereas others are content with a simple wire fence. The Trojans trapped themselves behind great walls of stone for extra security.

Unfortunately, the story of Troy is more than one of a sad, lonely city, isolated by its defensive nature. It is also a story of deceit, betrayal, and destruction. You see, after nearly ten years of failing to breach Troy’s walls, the Greeks hatched a plan. They built an enormous hollow wooden horse and presented it as a “gift” to the Trojans, along with one man that they strategically left behind to suggest that the Greeks had surrendered. However, they filled the horse with soldiers, and when the Trojans took the horse into the city, the soldiers crawled out of the wooden animal and slaughtered the people. And that was how Troy fell.

The same concept applies to a person. Human trust is difficult to gain. Once someone trusts you, you have earned yourself a place in that person’s thoughts, life, relationships, almost everything. The thing is, it’s up to you to decide what you want to do with that position. The reason that so many of us have trouble opening up to new people is that we’re afraid of being hurt. Perhaps you’ve been emotionally maimed before. Perhaps you once relinquished the defensive role, and that experience only ended in gallons of tears, burning eyes, and an aching chest.

Furthermore, inside the walls, the people wield weapons. Of course, they aren’t incredibly effective against an army. Even once they’ve begun to bond with another person, humans find ways to keep one foot out the door, so they don’t fully commit to a relationship. We keep other people at arm’s length: being shy, coming off as unlikeable, or deliberately refusing to connect on a deeper level. These are just tools that are used to keep emotional attachments at bay.

Ultimately, you can’t trust everyone. With all of the people you are destined to meet, some of them are bound to have sinister intentions. However, at some point, you realize that, while you can’t completely filter the stream of people coming through your defenses, some people are worth the risk. The tale of Troy warns against allowing things in, but not every person is a Trojan horse.

Graphic by AARON CHAN