Subject: Mean the Peace

Hi there, dear reader. Hope you are healthy and doing well in these chaotic days. Most of us need peace, so we do “the best” thing we believe to get it. Some get it in bed (Like John and Yoko did) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bed-ins_for_Peace

some others march at streets.

But some,

lose their lives at battlefields. Is it a choice?

It is a war of powers

governors giving orders

Roger “death”!?

No, thanks.

Days ago, I was talking to a friend about the Nagorno-Karabakh war. I have friends from both Azerbaijan and Armenia. Both of them lived the burden of losing loved ones.

So, I asked her how she feels, and her answer actually inspired me to write this.

“I don’t know if I can forgive, I should be in peace with myself first. Because I want to mean it”

That was it. Peace starts at home. Nope, not where you were born or where you live currently. It is your mind, soul and body. What functions you, helps you think, decide and act. You should believe it from heart to carry it to next day, next years or next generations. Otherwise, peace will just be an illusion.

It is easy to hate. I see hundreds of hate speeches for Armenians, for Turkish or Azerbaijani people everyday on Internet. Anger is falling us apart.

We don’t take our time to think, reflect, understand and CONNECT. I see that it is so hard to not think about death. It is a hole in our hearts. Innocent people losing their lives. It is UNFAIR. I feel the same.

Please, know me as who I am. Judge me as how I act. Love me as how I make you feel.

But we also should remember not to generalize. Being angry to the whole nation has no meaning. There is no sense, because humans are individual. The piece of land I live in does not define me. Surely, there can be some things that I like, and I feel part of. But there are also things that I don’t like, and I reject. So, it is the same for everyone. Do you really know who you are blaming to? How it feels to be discriminated because of generalizations?

Please, know me as who I am. Judge me as how I act. Love me as how I make you feel. Not anyone else that you assume I am connected to.

In this way, I will be the one responsible from my actions. This way, labels will be set free, and we will be communicating without any filter.

Otherwise, there will be dark clouds forever and thunders will keep on roaring.

Sincerely,

Elif.