The truth is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution, says Albus Dumbledore to Harry during one of his many hospital wing moments. I never handled the truth as such. What I believed was that, knowing the truth was more important than the truth itself. But what is it? What kind truth do I need to know?
Last year I was graced to edit a book, something I didn’t know would stain me in a way I never expected. Shadowed Truths was just one of the many projects I handled in the past thus, I focused on the technical aspects of writing rather than the content itself. It was a great material, I should say, impactful and something that would leave tears in your eyes. The poems left me smiling knowingly, similar to my a-ha moments, when there’s something I wanted to say that I can’t put into words. Ah, this is it. This is what I’ve been thinking.
It created a buzz this year as its authors, Cha and Kim decided to hold an online book launch. I felt compelled to read it again, this time not as an editor but as a bookworm who tries to catch up with her reading challenge. Half of this book is about the life of someone else, a friend of a friend, technically a half-stranger. Another half is about the life of a friend, her fears and anxieties, triumphs and pain. If there’s one thing I don’t like about reading memoirs, it’s the feeling of indecency – I feel like I am peeking through someone’s private life and witnessing something I shouldn’t see. On the other hand I feel thankful. Not many people, me included, are ready to face their truth and share it to the world.
The truth is, life’s unexpected turns could be tragic. One moment, you’re full of hope and plans for the future. The next moment, you’re in the hospital battling with a disease that may or may not allow you to live your life the way you want to. The truth is, sometimes, the people that we trust the most are the ones who always have the reason to leave when we need them the most. The truth is, when the time comes that even we couldn’t understand ourselves, our friends and family will still be there to understand for us. The truth is, when life gets hard and and there’s nowhere to run, God becomes our ultimate comfort. These truths seem to be universal, the kind of truths that everyone of us knows about. But this is also the kind of truth we don’t believe. Until it happens to us.
My own truth is just the same – an almost tragedy. I can’t even imagine a time darker than that. I was down so low it was impossible to see the end of the tunnel. But I survived. I got out of the tunnel and here I am telling the tale. It’s probably the reason why Dumbledore defined the truth as both terrible and beautiful. It is terrible, because it can cripple us with pain it’s almost cruel. But once we decided to face and accept this truth, it becomes an experience. A kind of experience that’s too beautiful it’s such a shame not to share to the world.
Shadowed Truths will make you cry – it’ll give you a glimpse of how mean life’s jokes are sometimes. Then it’ll make you smile, because it’ll make you think of all the good things, no matter how small, amidst the tragedy. In the end, it’ll give you hope, because no matter how bad things can be, everything else is temporary, and God alone remains constant.
Where to get your copy? Visit their Facebook page at fb.com/shadowedtruths for more info.
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Thank you, Ate Beth, for always supporting us! <3