Last night, I didn’t just think about why London is London, or how it reached this point so naturally, without tension or struggle—I simply understood it!
As a child born and raised in Caddebostan, Istanbul, I used to think: if we’re talking about a city, this is a city; if we’re talking about civilization, this is civilization, right? I was seriously mistaken.
I shouldn’t just speak about London, but about the UK in general—the majority, their perspective on life, their concept of being civilized (which they don’t even need to conceptualize; they just live it naturally, spontaneously, without force or overthinking) and the environment they create.
Because societies create their own living spaces, and the British do exactly that. They don’t overthink it; they just live, carried along by the flow of that river.
Deep within that civilization and its formation lies a profound culture of reading and theater. Because the questions still plaguing countries that are failing or resisting development were asked—and answered—centuries ago here.
They are different because; People dress not to stand out as sexual objects, but to be whoever they are; wearing whatever they like without worrying, “Oh dear, what will people say? Is this appropriate?”
With every unimaginable hair color,
Because no one meddles in anyone else’s business, and those who take pride in their differences can express them freely,
Because even in a jam-packed subway—standing or sitting—they can read without ever lifting their heads, diving into their own worlds amidst that crowd,
Because they can display their love out loud—man and woman, opposite sex or same sex—kissing and hugging in the streets, loving each other freely and showing it,
Because they have respected nature and all living things within it for generations, and have been able to protect them,
Because they proudly revive the old, keep it alive, and by respecting it, revise and incorporate it into their lives,
Because they can turn gardening and flowers into a vast ocean of knowledge,
Because they discovered that even the simplest-looking thing has its own science, putting it into formulas and making it fun,
Because they know that beauty lies not in sameness but in difference, and they don’t snarl at each other because of those differences.
That is why they are different.
You find peace there because you experience the fullness of not looking at anyone else and simply being yourself.
