It Is Time Have High Hopes

We grew up by believing that every cloud has a silver lining. So naturally, we consider this new type of coronavirus nightmare with this perspective

We grew up by believing that “every cloud has a silver lining”. So naturally, consider this new type of coronavirus nightmare with this perspective and believe that there is a “silver lining” in these “clouds”. These “silver linings” have already started showing themselves… The invisible ties between humans start- ed to be visible and the unity was remembered. We understood once again that the woe of one of us is the woe of us all, that we need solidarity/sharing, the value of neighbour relations and family communication. We all saw how the global economic system compelled us to live in fear and anxiety for the sake of sustainability, increased our dependency through the consumer culture and alienated us from ourselves and the society by restricting our communication.

And isn’t the concept of “speed” entered our lives in recent years a result of this? Have we all not re- membered to slow down a little and stop due to this “cloud”, this “foul” called coronavirus? Have we not understood how important it is to just slow down and watch? Have we not started questioning what is right and what is wrong? Have we not realized that we cannot grow by just running fast, we cannot beat the time by racing with it? Have we not realized that as we speed up, our anxieties also increase with it and as we move away from ourselves, we also keep away from the time and reality that we’re in?

This anecdote sums it all up. Indians were put on a train. 10 minutes later, the Chief said, “Stop!” and they stopped the train. The Chief got off, sat on a rock a little away and closed his eyes. He sat there without moving at all for 20 minutes. “What is it? Why did you sit there for that long?” They asked him. “I waited,” he said. Then they asked him, “What did you wait for?” And he answered, “For my soul to catch my body…”

The moments when people miss the exits in life the most are when they run the fastest and become blind to what’s going on around them. As the hearts go blind, hope weakens. Then we cannot “communicate correctly” with anyone, especially ourselves. In times like these, it would be helpful to remember the great master Mehmet Âkif Ersoy, who frequently spoke about the importance and the power of hope, with the following lines he wrote in 1913:

Giving up on determination by seeing the future as dark…

If there is a vile death, it must be this.

It is no coincidence that Âkif, who starts the Independence March with the words, “Don’t be afraid,” talks about the “future” in this poem. Because he was surrounded by people who thought the future would be dark. Knowing that giving up on hopes would bring material and immaterial destruction, the poet considers the word “despair” equal to swearing/shirk.

Now it’s time to listen to Âkif’s call carefully, make hope permanent and continue living by taking all the necessary measures. And without forgetting what this period taught us for sure… By seeing the “silver linings” in the “clouds” and realizing the unity of all humanity and the amazing connection between the singularity and plurality…