 Hide and seek
Around the world children love to play games. Being a child, in a way, is to learn life
with the games that will make us ready for the future. Each culture has its own games
related to its geography. There are many ideologies in the world, many different people,
many different colors and many other tastes. But there is a game that every child in every
country plays: hide and seek. What a simple, joyful game it was (is). Especially, in
summer time, at nights many children run in a big garden, screaming… that is one of the
unforgettable memories in my life. What makes hide and seek a game that is fun and
universal? It is because we are still playing the game. What makes life enjoyable and
worth living is the misery, the feeling of not knowing. It would not be enjoyable if we
knew everything and could make sense of everything. In that way hide and seek is a normal
way of living life; that is why it is universal.
Life creates hidden meanings, and we spend a lifetime finding them. The mysteries may
cause severe depression and some people use pills for their psychology - are they trying
to fix the unknowing feeling and stop being lost in life?
How much further do
I have to go?
And how much longer
till I finally know?
Because I'm looking and
I just can't see what's
in front of me
Questions, questions and questions… I sometimes match people to this song of Hoobastank
(called "Crawling in the Dark"), screaming painfully to learn more and
more…those who don't know that not knowing is a rule of the game.
We should make peace with those rules to be happy. It is not, of course, the only way to
be happy. However, thinking about the common saying that if life is a movie and we are the
actors, my response is "Sorry, but we do not have the script and we do not have time
to get ready for our roles." Life cannot wait for us to rehearse. The script will
always be hidden; we always want to seek what will be next without knowing what the entire
story is about.
People fall in love with those that hide themselves, their life and everything about them.
Those people are mysteries; we see such people as gods. So be mysterious, and give
yourself a chance to play and be deduced. Try to love the times when life comes with some
surprises. Your existence arrives with surprises precisely because you did not know
something.
Game time!
So now I want to play a hide and seek game on campus. The rules: write just one sentence
about yourself and e-mail it to me. If it makes me want to seek you, I will find you and
start a conversation. Your picture and your interview will be published here in the
Bilkent News.
Now I am closing my eyes, and counting to 50. When I turn around, I want to see some
emails from you in my mailbox!
Take care.
Gülay Acar (COMD/IV)
howtoreachgulay@yahoo.com
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