The road continues peacefully, and for this part I have chosen to listen to the playlist I’ve created during all my travels over the last years. Every song is linked to a memorable situation, feeling, or location. As such it isn’t only a musical journey, but also a journey through memories.

The cracking soft voice of an older man takes me to a live concert back in the country I was born in. I used to love the music of this musician when I was still at high school. He was the my best friends’ favourite artiest as well. Every time when I hear his old smokey voice, I think of my best friend and our high school memories. Those times are far away in the past; and only memories build a bridge between what once was and what reality today is.

Prophetic Words

This song in particular unveils a very fragile side of the artiest. Sadness sounds through his voice and the instruments. Even when the song is over, and he takes the applause of the people gracefully, sadness undermines his gratitude.

If you listen carefully, you could have heard it.

Many years later, he committed suicide. A shockwave went through the country responding to the sudden and unexpected loss. However, if you listen carefully to his songs, maybe you could have heard it. His music was almost prophetic. Yet, how often do we really listen? How often do we accept the truth we are hearing, if it isn’t the truth we would like to hear?

An Inconvenient Truth

Too often in life, the cues are there, the truth is out there, naked and visible, but too often harsh and vulnerable. Too often we choose not to hear it, not to see it, because it is a truth we don’t want to hear and we often cannot even bear. Until it becomes unbearable visible and we cannot longer turn away our eyes.

The truth always catches up with us

Eventually, the truth always catches up with us, it is only a matter of time. This became even more obvious while working as a journalist. It trained me in being patience when I didn’t get to the root of a problem straight away; or worse when editors or others didn’t believe me. I knew one day they would. Because the truth always catches up with us.

I knew, whispered by my intuition, that I had to go.

If I left this morning, it was as well because I could have seen the good solely, the illusion rather than the truth. But I knew, whispered by my intuition, that I had to go.

Because eventually, the truth always catches up with us.