The 5 Pillars of Humanity
Power story by Subhe Mustafa, Director of Market Leaders (https://www.market-leader.org)
Since the days of Gilgamesh, passing by the Greeks, and stopping at the modern station of Jean-Paul Sartre, powerful individuals have embarked on repetitive-with-variation Odysseys; they all, I presume, attempted the answer the questions: Who are we? Why are we here? Where are we heading?
Like any one of you, distinguished readers, I had to walk my Odyssey with so many ups and downs all the way here. In the last year of my 4th decade of age, I think I have just set up the 5 pillars of my inner paradise, for Hell and Paradise exist first inside our human essence.
Upon kind invitation from Mr. Tanja Bogataj, I am sharing with you, distinguished readers, the cream of my journey; 5 important lessons, I have learned so far, answering the tough Existential questions herein above. And, if you do not mind the grotesque of my style, I have molded them in the form of 5 Sonnets:
Man is part and parcel of the Environment
Apart from the Romantic appeal to nature, I do strongly believe that trees are the guardian companion of mankind; our whole existence goes hand in hand with them:
From a Tree to Humans
I am the breath of life that praise the Lord,
Who made you kings to rule the Earth and Air.
Be careful when you print a file of Word
to save a work of yours from disrepair!
A printed page to reckless man’s a chore;
the wiser see the truth and thus refrain:
“To KILL a TREE = to SLAY a CHILD or MORE.
I WARN you NOT to WASTE a SOUL in VAIN!”
You’ll miss me when the heat corrodes the ice,
and when the rain rejects to quench your thirst;
the floods will make you run for life as mice
and with remorse behold the scene at first.
But hope is there for those who are so bold
to grasp and stretch their hands for trees to hold.
Despite the terrifying image of ruining our ecosystems, we need to follow the golden tip from Socrates: “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new”. HOPE must be our driving force.
Altruism and Action in Unison
Each of one us, I anticipate, has big networks of real-life or virtual friends whom we converse with or communicate via Social Media and most of our words are cursing the darkness around us; only a few undertake to light a candle:
Icarus, Son of Man
‘Tis fact: The Man can never be God in might;
But humans are perplexed by rosy dreams,
Intrigued to batter evil day and night
To ease the pain and silence needy screams.
The Son of Man, Icarus, has sufferings
For World was lacking warmth and void of art.
He needed wax and simple feather wings,
With daring heart, for missions hard to start.
Antagonizing Sun, with aim to reach,
Can kill the hopes of knights and let them fall.
From Icar’s, learn a lesson good to teach:
Success is “all for one and one for all.”
Without fellows you’re surely falling down,
No matter how benign, you’re doomed to drown!
What I have learned from Icarus is that our waiting for salvation leaders can be misleading; we are all leaders if, and only if, believe that any man is a leader on the one condition to move and act with other human fellows. A flock of flying robins can bring down a jumbo jet; a school of small fish can defeat a shark.
Fences Fit Animal Farms
Willy-nilly, fences are besieging us from cradle to grave; we are innovative in creating names and decorations for our fences: gender, race, religion, sect, nation, intelligence, and others that my linguistic reservoir has run out of, or my good nature is reluctant to remind you of:
The Football Tortoise
The Jungle Book relates a fairy tale
As old as Man and human search for mirth;
A tortoise sought for air he could inhale
Beneath the blades of stringent laws of birth.
With tearing eyes, he left his hatchling back,
And thirst for lore defying Pierian Spring.
His past contained inside a heavy sack
And bright as daylight wealth assured to bring!
Alas! His shell was cracked with longer shanks;
Amusement seekers played a mad football.
‘tis bitter taking anguished cries for pranks,
Unjust dividing world to short and tall.
Our globe is one, but borders set apart
Our wits and tortured every noble heart.
What I intend to say is that: boundaries are real around us; if we ignore them, we are not realistic and not true to ourselves. The question to raise is not WHY we have fences, but rather, WHY we accept to be locked in.
Wars Fit Apes in the Jungle
As done with fences, wars are celebrated for the same considerations; Apes, in their final version of evolution, chocolate-cover their Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy & Pride (the 7 deadly sins) to launch their Quixotic wars:
Don Quixote Chewing Gum
For ages, hearths of elders chewed on knights
Romantic ‘nough to charm the hearts of lads.
And Don Quixote suits to pass the nights
Of those who dream to conquer holy lands.
The slow, but surely grinding, Mill of God
Will crush them who attempt to spin around.
Our knights refuse to take advice to nod;
Their shining armours will appall the ground.
We all believe in words from mouths of priest
To fight our neighbours over Helén’s Lingerie.
Has Jesus stood for “Coming Death from East?”
Or He has come to spread the Heaven’s Ray!
To all the lads who preach on Decorum,
Abolish! World can live without your Gum!
According to Oxford Dictionary, ‘priest’ is “A mallet used to kill fish caught when angling”. Unfortunately, nowadays, mainstream media is hammering our heads with false justifications to launch a war East Mediterranean over Gas (Helén’s Lingerie). Shall we cry in unison “Abolish!”?
Females Have the Cure
From the dawn of history, successive civilizations exemplified the power of females in the form of goddesses associated with (re)birth, fertility, insight, justice, and power to heal:
Odysseus & Mermaids
Poseidon has an appetite to please,
To feast on flesh as sweet as Kurd Alan.
Yet, Odysseus is not to yield with ease;
For death is meant to scare an average man.
A mermaid, sailors’ dream, with tender hand
Appear to save The Males from dissipation.
Their name implies “protecting human kind”
And, thereof, Zeus endowed with dear compassion.
They jump off cliffs and grasp a drowning head;
Against the reason-knots of arid mind,
Calypso’s Mermaids have a light to shed,
With matching sun enchantment seen by blind:
“The foolish Cain and Abel launch the war;
The Mermaids’ Waves of Change will peace restore!”
Although I strongly object to the Feminists’ endeavor to polarize Mankind into two opponents; my innate Naturalism and acquired Reason drive my attitude towards my female human fellows.
Finally, I would cordially thank Ms. Bogataj and her team for giving me the chance to talk to you all, valued readers.
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Human Curriculum Vitae (not for work purposes)
(The Yokel Who Met the Queen)
1971 – 1988: an immature boy born and raised by 2 uneducated farmers with other 14 siblings in a remote village in a geographical spot, so far, called Syria
1989 – 2000: Learning Odyssey that resulted in BA in English Language & Literature, Diplôme d’Etudes en Langue Français, Diploma in Hebrew Language, and half Master in Business Administration
2000 – 2012: Working Journey in Education
2013 – 2014: Ape-fighter in defense of self, family, birthplace and principles
2014 – 2019: A transformation process from Yokel to Global Citizen resulted in helping place 10,000 Syrian refugees in the region at universities
2019 – Present: Leading youth to international job markets
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You can contact Subhe at:
Mobile: +90 539 599 4414
E-mail: s.mustafa@market-leader.org
Skype: Subhe Mustafa