Post-rain Istanbul. In a historic square where the cobblestones are wet and the cool night air pierces the skin, I walked along the rain-slicked surface. At my feet, the lights of classic, warm streetlamps reflect in multiple small golden rings. Daytime conflicts or things that didn’t go as planned felt washed away by the cold rain, leaving an empty feeling—as if all was lost—at that moment.
“Everything may be lost, yet the future still remains.” —Christian Nestell Bovee
Turning the Everyday into Gold
Gazing at the warm glow of the lamps, I paused. When we feel all is lost, we tend to look only at the vast darkness before us or the shadows of what is gone. But like this wet square, even after the rain washes everything away, it becomes a river, flows toward the sea, and eventually transforms back into clouds.
The fact that it gathers and rains again is proof that the possibility of circulation is not lost. Even if material possessions, titles, or precious relationships seem gone, the flame of your soul’s immortal lamp burns quietly. As long as that flame exists, the future is an unfinished canvas, waiting for you to rewrite it however you wish.
In the back of the square stands a historic building emitting a warm glow. Having nurtured possibilities for centuries, it stands as an unwavering signpost in the pitch-black night. Shift your gaze to the cycles of nature and entrust your heart to its flow. Then, even the “yesterdays” that seemed lost will transform into a freer, more precious “today.”
