Backstreet Alchemy: Istanbul Breezes — Finding Treasure in the Everyday　67

67. Questions that Cultivate Inner Strata: Returning to Gold

Post-rain Istanbul. Slightly away from the hustle of Taksim in the New City, wet cobblestones reflect the streetlights outside my window, and a damp wind is carried from across the Bosphorus. I sat at my desk and dipped a classic fountain pen into a black inkwell. The sound of the nib touching the fine paper prepared for my grandmother. I feel the small conflicts and difficulties harbored in daily life sinking into the abyss of thought, along with the scent of ink. As I continued writing the letter to my grandmother, a quote she once taught me crossed my mind.

Turning the Everyday into Gold

When things don't go well, we often feel as if it was simply wasted time. However, one's transformation (alchemy) only begins by throwing a deep "question" into oneself. "Why is my heart so unsettled right now?" "Where does this sense of discomfort come from?"

Holding onto a question is the very act of cultivating the inner earth (heart, soul). Even without rushing for an answer, by maintaining rich "questions" within yourself, impurities (conflicts) are gradually decomposed, and the strata that transform into gold (self-awareness, inner richness, Huzur) are richly nurtured. By the time I finished the letter, my inner questions had become clear, and I felt a certain sense that my inner strata had been richly cultivated. Today, the conflicts you feel in your daily life may be nothing more than a fleeting shimmer of a lovely "question" meant to cultivate you.