We are at Betül Mardin’s house.
She is the one who laid the foundation of the public relations profession in Turkey, inspired thousands of people, and the gorgeous woman almost 90 years old attributing her vigor to never stop doing something. Dear Ece (Üremez), was going to interview for Pozitif magazine, and I tagged behind her. It was great to listen to her sincere conversation, to witness her modesty, to breathe the air of her home, and to produce projects with her assistant, sweet Burcu Erduran, in a little while.
But something very important also happened.
I am in Bodrum.
A winter day… Bodrum is calm, desolate, and a bit sad. The newspaper in my hand… I’m reading an interview of Betül Mardin. She explains her entrance to the field of Public Relations, the difficulties she faced, how she made efforts to overcome them, if I remember correctly, she also tells the solidarity of women, and she mentions the wonderfulness of young people. I’m looking at her photo. Her white hair with buns, her fancy sweater, her eyes looking elfishly through her glasses… And I’m scared. I am afraid of her. I think, “How difficult it must be to work with a woman like her”. I’m angry at her, too, but I don’t know why. Then I close the newspaper and send all these thoughts deep into my consciousness to be remembered once more last week.
We are in front of Betül Mardin’s house.
The interview is over, we are happy to have a very enjoyable day. We hug and leave with Burcu. At that time, I was turning about this memory of mine that surfaced. Of course, I realize that that day was not my anger at a woman I didn’t know. I was angry at myself for quitting my profession, which I understood that I did not want to do any other job on the day I entered the door of Yeni Asır newspaper in Izmir, for voluntarily receiving my education, for not trusting myself, for not going to Istanbul when the sea was over in Izmir, and for trying to do other jobs. Betül Mardin was telling me, “You can also do it” via the interview and I did not want to hear this. I was afraid, but I wanted it very much as well.
Fortunately, life opens its doors, sometimes easily and sometimes in a winding way.
I am quickly telling Ece about them. I want Ece to understand me and comprehend some issues early.
In 2009, we got up and came to Istanbul under the conditions that many people insane courage… At that time, dozens of people from the grocery store owner to the doctor said, “how could you leave Bodrum and come to Istanbul?”. I kept telling them that living in a town in the south has difficulties as much as beauties.
If you are one of those who have ever dreamed of ‘settling south’ at least once, you may have trouble understanding me, I admit.
However, today I give a different answer to the person asking the same question:
“If you have found your life purpose if you feel it deeply and Bodrum is where you need to be to achieve your life purpose, go. Go even if you take a risk… But if you are constantly and just complaining where you are, keep in mind that you are in the wrong place”.
The place, where I should be in this part of my life, is actually Istanbul, my hometown according to my ancestral records. That’s it…
The driver of the taxi I took recently started to say that Istanbul is a terrible place and everybody living in Istanbul without exception is terrible people. I did not answer. After a while, he started repeating the same sentences using heavier words. Frankly, I was a little hesitant and I didn’t tell him, “You know, we came to Istanbul about seven years ago and I am grateful for it every morning.”
P.S.: I should add that I learned a lot in the seven years I spent in Bodrum with my family, sometimes with love and sometimes with difficulty, I feel on the right track today, and I owe this feeling to my experiences there. No experience is unnecessary in life.
With the intention that you realize and follow your mission in life …
March 2016
what do you think?