‘Soften, and use little water.’
Before we left Konya we went to Rumi’s shrine…I wondered if it would be a meaningful experience, looking at a dead poets grave (one of the sacred sites of the world because he was after all a great Sufi poet and his Turkish name, Mevlana, means Master, but nevertheless a grave) …but, we as people can pull deeper things from ourselves when we pay respect, when we allow wonder in…when we stop and are still, in the presence of a past that was lived well.
Most of us will have encountered Rumi at some point in our lives – he said a lot of wise things…
‘You are not a drop in the ocean, you are the entire ocean in a drop.’
‘Stop being small, you are the universe in ecstatic motion.’
‘As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.’
‘Only from the heart can you touch the sky.’
It took us a while to find it and we had a few minor disagreements about directions so after we’d arrived and put on our plastic slip over shoes (see photo) I was hot, a bit grumpy and not in the least spiritual 🙂
It was cool inside though, and beautiful, and Rosa made me laugh and I relaxed a little, we stood in front of Mevlana’s shrine, a man who devoted his life to exploring what it is to be a human being, and I stopped and was still. I allowed the tears that were just below the surface (one of my super powers)…and listened.
I heard one word, ‘soften’, spoken quietly, and more than once, it made complete sense to me and had an immediate effect (and I suspect I will be trying to remember to ‘soften’ quite often in the next few days, weeks and months 🙂
The word I ‘heard’ is just as likely to be my own internal awareness of myself …but I like to stay open to the possibility of support, guidance, love even, from something external to myself. There is so much we don’t understand and by choosing to remain open I get to keep the possibility that those positive influences may come into my life.
…and while I was in the toilet at the Çatalhöyük archaeological site I got another unbidden message, as I was wetting my scarf in the toilet to get my head cool. I heard what sounded like a grandma’s voice reminding a child… she said, ‘use little water’.
I could live my life by those two sentences, and their extended meanings delivered on the eve of my birthday, which turned out to be just as challenging as we though it would be…
Our train from Konya to Ankara was straightforward, and the overnight train to Erzurum left on time and the air conditioning was working – I picked up my book once the sun had gone down and was quickly immersed – ‘Lessons in Chemistry’ is a must read, thank you Jen 🙂 – it’s clever, funny, quirky and full of a straightforward honesty about the struggles our mothers and grandmothers went through.
The woman I sat next to was leaving the train at 12.58 a.m. so I stayed awake, knowing that when she left I could lie down across both seats. Rosa and Theo were already faking their own sleep by this point, and so at midnight I went to the toilet and sang happy birthday to myself …quite quickly though because it did not smell good in there!
At 1.35 when the train arrived at her stop, I got to lie down – birthday bliss! Which lasted about twelve minutes because Turkish train ticketing is really efficient and a young man came to sit in his seat…
I tried to sleep, we all tried. In different positions with differing degrees of success but it was a long night and I’d finished my book by five in the morning.
As the sun rose, the morning optimism that is a gift in my life, rose with it, and Rosa gave me my birthday card with beautiful words from her and Theo and a stunning bright bracelet I’d admired in Istanbul. Theo made me mint tea in one of our travel mugs and had a lit candle on a plate with a Turkish snack for a cake and they sang happy birthday to me, very quietly. My family do simple really well 🙂
After that we started to see some incredible scenery -mountains and rivers and eventually, herons, water birds and an eagle!
The journey was long though and as ever morning becomes afternoon and my optimism fades…and as we were waiting for the train to arrive in Erzurum (three miserable hours late) I went to the smelly toilet for at least the tenth time on the journey and while I was waiting for the elderly gentleman inside to get out, I saw a second bigger eagle!
So majestical…
…it didn’t take us long to find our hotel, that for some inexplicable reason smelled like bubblegum. We showered and headed out to buy food for our five and a half hour bus journey to Hopa the next day (…and then two hours in different buses crossing the border)…and to look for somewhere to eat.
We found a fantastic restaurant – simple food, rice, a butter bean dish, a runner bean dish and some soup! …and my little Turkish phrase I’d learned ‘ Bugün doğum günüm’ earned me a warm smile and a cute birthday cake with a candle on it 🙂
Best meal of the trip so far, partly because we’ve been living of peanut butter, crackers, cucumber and tomatoes for most of our train trips.
Not the birthday I would have chosen, full of discomfort and lack of sleep but as Rumi says…
“Love sometimes wants to do us a great favour: hold us upside down and shake all the nonsense out.”
I’m so glad you went to Rumi’s shrine and you got to see eagles and eat cake-type food over the days that make up our birthday celebrations. As we age I think we should have extended birthdays that cover a week. And wouldn’t it be great if the whole world softened. Such a lovely gentle birthday breakfast with Theo and Rosa…. Precious memories to look back on.
Onwards into Georgia. Xxxx
Also I love the shoe picture!
Definitely a birthday to remember – it’s good to have different birthdays !!) and I’m so glad you enjoyed the book (it is just brilliant!) and that it helped you through a long night. Love to you all….
HAPPY BURFDAY SHAZNAY!!!!!!! XxXxxXXxX
Happy Birthday sweetheart <3 I'm happy to hear & see, that you had a cake & a candle!! Ah, that book – I was given it to read in Cyprus in June & I LOVED it – then I gave it to Saskia for her birthday & she Loved it too! That last Rumi quote might just be my favourite of all, & I love his insights & have done for years … safe easy travels <3 xxx
Happy birthday darling what a way to start a brand new year! Wishing you soft adventures and simple love happy travels xxxx
I’m so happy you went to Konya – I wish I had known, I know lots of people there you could stay with. Will you be going back that way? It’s good to have shared experiences. I worked there with the hat maker to the whirling dervishes and lived with his family for 3 months many moons ago.
Loving reading your blog…so happy you 3 are able to have this experience in your lives… Keep safe..love your travelling tips. I’ll stay tuned.