START AGAIN

Just as you started before.

Or perhaps, just as you have begun many times before…

Without counting how many times,

Without rebelling against how many more there will be…

There are new beginnings in life.

Like the magic of never stepping into the same river twice.

There are new beginnings, there are endings, there are births.

And then, there are deaths again—mostly the kind where we die before truly dying.

And after those, there are rebirths, over and over again.

After every birth, there is a chance to start again.

Start again, my dear!

Turn around and look back—how many times have you started before?

Start again after what you have completed,

And also after what you have left unfinished.

Pat yourself on the back, place a gentle kiss on your shoulder.

You didn’t complete that thing? So what?

It’s okay, you did your best.

Now, go ahead and start again.

You have been born once more.

Perhaps you will die a thousand more times.

You will die a thousand times and be reborn on the thousand-and-first.

On that thousand-and-first time—start again.

We are all here, walking the same path.

Come on, dear sister/brother, we are waiting for you.

Start again, join us once more.

Look, spring has arrived, flowers are blooming.

Start again!

Selin BİNAY