I Cannot Carry This Burden Any Longer…

September 2002 · Ekin Dergisi · no. 73 · pp. 60–61

This translation covers Emin Özel’s opening column from September 2002. The reader’s letter and reply from the same issue remain available in the original Turkish scans. The text reflects the language and views of the original publication.

By Emin Özel

You are full of it all…

So full that you want to pour your heart out. Years of accumulated experience lie buried in your mind and heart. You have lived through so much that you could speak endlessly about it. Perhaps secrets you feel unable to share with anyone sometimes keep you awake.

If only you could put down that burden and feel some relief. But somehow you cannot. Perhaps you have hinted at something to someone you trusted deeply. Yet you could not summon the courage to say what you really wanted to say. You remembered the proverb that warns against telling a friend a secret, because that friend has another friend too.

You are right…

Like others, you tell yourself that speech is silver and silence is golden, and continue burying everything inside. A spoken word cannot be taken back. There is no telling what might happen. Yet there ought to be someone in your life with whom you can share such important concerns. Remember that millions of people around the world today develop various illnesses through withdrawing into themselves. They experience severe distress and problems between people, particularly within relationships. I am not the one saying this; scientists are. Take a moment to retreat into your shell.

Think…

Think carefully… Will you allow the next part of your life to become bitter? Or will you lighten your burden a little and live more peacefully? As always, this decision is yours to make.

Wishing you strength.

EminAbi