 | Michael Wray September 19, 2023 |
A PERFECT TURKISH MOMENT
WHY TURKEY? Whenever I visit my homeland, Canada, I inevitably get asked what’s so special about Turkey that I was willing to leave my family and friends and a country that ranks 14th on the list of happiest countries in the world. I explain the great appeal for me of living in a country with such an incredibly…
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| Michael Wray April 5, 2022 |
A long and Winding Road
A Most Consequential Meeting The main theme of Milan Kundera’s book, Life is Elsewhere, is the notion that the grass is always greener on the other side of the street. That is, that we might be happier someplace else instead of the place we actually are. I live in İstanbul but the circumstances around how I came to…
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| Michael Wray March 6, 2022 |
HAVE I BECOME “THAT” UNCLE?
Another Spoiled Thanksgiving A common trope of comedians these days is the cliché of “that” uncle, a close family member who spoils family get togethers with extremist, usually right-wing views. It doesn’t have to be an uncle though but could be any family member whose outpouring of raw, unfiltered, opinionated bullshit throws a monkey wrench into an ordinary…
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| Michael Wray November 14, 2021 |
THINKING ABOUT FOUNDATION
A Rush of Traffic I was on the balcony listening to the not too distant sound of Istanbul’s rush hour traffic going by, and started thinking about the multitudes of people being carried along, the energy of the vehicles themselves, and the many branches and interchanges of the highway. The traffic racing down the E5 was making an…
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| Michael Wray October 25, 2021 |
GRATITUDE
It’s an Outlook Ever since I embraced positivism, the practice which has had one of the biggest effects on my outlook is expressing gratitude. I remember an episode of Battlestar Galactica where the Cylons showed how they could project any reality they wished upon their ship so that instead of drab metal corridors, they walked through lush forests…
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| Michael Wray October 13, 2021 |
MY DREAM JOURNAL
Dream Power When I first came to Turkey back in 1994, my life was in a bit of a confused state. Around that time, my roommate lent me a copy of the book, Dream Power, by Dr. Ann Farady. It describes a way of looking at dreams devoid of all the symbology of conventional dream books, where instead…
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| Michael Wray October 3, 2021 |
ON DEATH AND GRIEF
Slow Awareness “Pity not the dead. For the dead, being dead, feel no more fear, pain, or unhappiness. Pity those who are left behind.” Michael Wray Growing up in Canada during the 60s and 70s was a peaceful experience for me and most of my friends. The murmurs of war in faraway lands on the evening news went…
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| Michael Wray September 13, 2021 |
The Power of Saying Sorry
Early Lessons Like most kids of my generation, I was brought up to believe in and practice the art of giving a sincere apology. I remember my mom telling me, “Don’t say it unless you mean it” and teachers in the playground prying kids apart and exhorting them to apologize and shake hands. It was a simpler time,…
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| Michael Wray August 11, 2021 |
Journey to the Centre of the Onion
A Vırtue of Necessity We were half way across Lake Van when we saw Mount Ararat looming out of the mist… but wait, I’m getting ahead of myself. For two summers my son and I had wanted to go home to Canada to see our friends and family and particularly my ailing mother. Unfortunately, due to the strict…
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| Michael Wray July 27, 2021 |
In Defense of Critical Thinking
Old Values Versus the New I remember when I returned to university after my gap years and was accepted to the University of Toronto to study literature. Many of the people I knew saw no practical value in my choice and believed I was destined to a life of dead-end jobs, or at best, that I would end…