Written by Judayah Murray | January 21, 2017

[TRANSCRIPT]
This is an ode to someone I think I no longer wish to know, but I thank you for challenging my intellect and encouraging me to search:

A few weeks ago, you asked me what was truth and I couldn’t finish my thought.
“Well, it’s the opposite of lying!”
“What’s lying?”
“The opposite of…oh…truth.”

I said truth is what you believe, within yourself, to be right. Sometimes our truths are based off of facts, but other times our truths are birthed from our ideas that only have yet to be disproven.
So what does that mean, then?
That not all truths are truthful?
That some rights can actually be wrongs in disguise?

Well, in short, yes.

For instance, I believe that I am a bad person. That is my truth. I’ve hurt people, I’ve said things I shouldn’t have said, I’ve gone places I never should have gone, I’ve done things that no one should ever even imagine doing. I’ve acknowledged my wrongs and my badness. I’ve looked each them in their faces and said “bring it”. I am bad. But my truth isn’t always true.

Because when I sit behind my camera and give clean, thoughtful advice to thousands of people daily, am I still bad? When I swipe someone in the cafe, remind someone about the quiz, when I roll over in the morning to kiss you on your nose and you smile back–am I still bad?

My truth is a lie, but nonetheless factual in its subjectivity. I believe it to be true, therefore for the time being it is until another person comes along and points out its holes. I see the sky as blue, but you, who are colorblind, say that it’s green. That’s called perspective. Truth has perspective.

Am I a bad person? Maybe.

But am I also good? Absolutely.