SEASON CHANGES, CAN YOU DO THE SAME?

One of the best things about riding a motorcycle is that you feel the change of seasons in your bones. Especially if you live in Turkey, a country with four seasons. In the first days of December, we rode through the south of Turkey from Istanbul to Akyaka. The transformation of autumn into winter is also evident in the low energy of the sun’s rays and the yellow-red leaves of the trees, their bodies trembling in the wind.

For who knows how many millions of years, the world has experienced the change of seasons. Humans trying to destroy seasonal change will change to climate change using their endless desires, like driving their motorcycles at full speed around a sharp bend. Whether this bend can be turned will be seen by the generations of the near future when the 1.5 degrees Celsius rise governments are taking will be achieved. While the change of seasons is related to the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, what is the cause of climate change? Most of us would probably attribute this to industries, governments, or any other causes of temperature change. However, we are unaware that human self-change is the real cause. Man has not only evolved in his physical development since the beginning of his existence. With intellect, he used himself to try to improve his thinking, mainly in a positive way. He explored philosophy and theology to access the values that lead to the wisdom that makes human beings human. He attained many values that we define as virtues. Knowledge and curiosity were the indispensable starting point of these values. Our desire for knowledge and curiosity was a prelude to our inner journey. With the intellect, we have defined many virtues and sought ways to attain them. These roads were just a means to an end. I won’t write the purpose here. I hope you’ll think about it and find it.

Unfortunately, the first things that human beings lose are knowledge and curiosity. After that, we lost humility and compassion. I know a small group of people who use motorcycles as a tool to understand the virtues better. When I attended their first meeting, I didn’t understand what Paolo, the motorcycle guru and mastermind behind the idea, had to say. Like many other motorcyclists who attended, I remained indifferent. Still, I continued to attend the meetings because I was curious to see how he would reconcile motorcycling with virtues. Now I realize that Paolo had already done what he had intended to do by triggering my curiosity by revealing the first virtue in human transformation.

We rode to Akyaka this weekend to meet and discuss the issues. The beginning of the ride was like a clue that the meeting would not go well. We waited patiently for the other riders at the meeting place for almost two hours. But they did not come. At this point, the magical power of the motorcycle emerged and was enough to get us where we wanted to ride. This magical power could, of course, be none other than passion. The first day was a long theoretical meeting full of suggestions. On the second day, there were rides. While we thought that the meeting and the rides went well, our awareness was still in the developmental stage, and we could not internalize the virtues and remained only in the booklet and in words, proving our difficult path. Because instead of the virtues that make people human, we have habits that have shifted and taken root.

With love

Deniz Bıyıkoğlu