PROLOGUE
Dear comrade,
In this text, we will explore the etymology, philosophy, and functionality of UY- and the various concepts that emerge through its derivatives. By cultivating conscious awareness of something that quietly accompanies many aspects of our existence, we will embark on a multilayered and dynamic journey into the depths of the UY-world.
One small note before we begin: At the heart of this text lies the Turkish root “UY-”; a small root carrying a surprisingly vast landscape of relating, adjusting, harmonizing, adapting, complying, resisting, encountering, and becoming. Rather than translating it, I have chosen to let it remain as it is. So, as we continue, I invite you to approach UY- not merely as a word, but as a world.
ENTERING THE UY-WORLD
This creation emerged from a recent desire to remap UY- and its derivatives that have been stirring within my system. Welcome to this “small” yet “deep” UY-world, composed of five concepts.
As the first step in entering this world, I would like to introduce the framework I have created in order to understand it before looking at our lives through this lens.
First and foremost, I would like to define the Subject and the Other; two indispensable companions within the relationships we will encounter throughout this world.
OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
Subject
The conscious psychic center of a living being that experiences, interprets, and acts within its relationships with the Self and the Other by forming orientations within them.
Other
The entirety of living and non-living, internal and external beings, processes, and phenomena that the Subject can relate to, be affected by, and affect.
UY- and Its Derivatives
UY-
The Subject’s capacity to form orientations within relationship.
UY-um-suzluk (Disharmony)
A relational field of tension that emerges when differences in needs, rhythms, or orientations become visible.
UY-mak (Compliance)
A one-directional or directionless act of adjustment through which the Subject, disregarding its Self, responds solely in relation to the Other in the face of Disharmony.
This adjustment may manifest as accommodating the Other, submission, obedience, people-pleasing, reactive opposition that insists the Other orient toward oneself, or a dissociative drifting without direction.
UY-um-lan-mak (Adaptation)
A multidirectional act of adjustment through which the Subject, while taking itSelf into consideration, responds to Disharmony by attending to its own orientations, the orientations of the Other, and the orientations emerging within the relationship itSelf.
This adjustment may occur solely with the Self when reciprocity is not available, or with both the Self and the Other when reciprocity becomes possible.
UY-um (Harmony)
The organic attunement that may emerge through reconciliation during the process of UY-um-lan-mak (Adaptation).
This organic attunement may be accompanied by an inner sense of expansion, enrichment, and the emergence of perspectives that extend beyond previous ways of understanding.
However, UY-um is not limited to visible reconciliation.
It is also a living and evolving encounter that holds the potential to deepen the Subject’s relationship with its Self.
BEYOND DEFINITIONS
So, what exactly do I mean when I speak of the Self, the very foundation of the subtle line separating UY-mak from UY-um-lan-mak in this world?
What Is It?
It is the dynamic existence that carries the wholeness, potentials, orientations, and existential organization of a living being, extending both within and beyond conscious awareness.
It is a capacity of selfhood that can hold together our contradictory and “complex” parts while attending to, containing, and integrating them.
It is the natural and dynamic organization of body, soul, and mind unfolding within, between, and beyond our biological, social, psychological, and cultural trajectories.
It is a dynamic state of becoming that continuously changes, transforms, and reorganizes itself through interaction, throughout every moment of life and beyond time itself.
What Is It Not?
It is not everything that is felt impulsively, every thought that enters our minds, or every desire that passes through us.
It is not a state of perpetual peace, perpetual calmness, or perpetual well-being.
It is not a completed destination, an achievement to be reached, or a fixed point of arrival.
It is not a survival response that emerges in order to COMPLY with existing conditions and wraps itself around us through bodily experiences of discomfort or constriction.
It is not a new mask hidden behind masklessness, emerging from a place that can recognize the masks people wear in order to meet the demands of the external world.
It is not rigid resistance, chronic opposition, or a perpetual state of rebellion rooted in the belief that existence can only be sustained through opposing relationships.
It is not a one-sided structure entirely detached from relationships, existing solely within the inner world and completely separated from external reality.
It is not a passive surrender to the flow that waits for everything to come from the outside without taking action.
It is not the overwhelming need for explanation and validation that emerges suddenly and intrusively the moment you say “no” in an attempt to establish a boundary with the Other.
The Visible Experience of a Subject in Contact With ItSelf
It may move in ways that are more aligned with its authentic orientations.
Its capacity to relate to itSelf and the external world with compassion, curiosity, creativity, courage, playfulness, calmness, and relational openness may increase.
It may experience a life in which it can influence through ACTION—the square root of INTERACTION; a life in which it can make choices and feel that it has a share in the consequences that follow.
It may experience a sense of expansion, spaciousness, vitality, or centeredness within its body.
It may sustain its existence from a place that can witness the experience it is currently living, without continuously ruminating on the past or attempting to control the future, while trusting its capacity to take action when action is needed.
It may express its needs to itSelf and to the Other, establish boundaries when necessary, and preserve the flexibility to revisit those boundaries when needed.
If we have truly digested the concepts and meanings that will accompany us throughout this journey, we may now enter our world by placing ourselves in the position of the Subject and choosing an Other in our lives with whom we are currently experiencing UY-um-suzluk.
AAAAND… ACTION
Once upon a time, a unique Subject opened its eyes in the UY-world.
While wondering how it came to be in this world, it noticed that an experience of UY-um-suzluk had interrupted the “normal” and “familiar” flow of its everyday life.
This interruption was somewhat uncomfortable.
For, in the face of UY-um-suzluk, the Subject found itself needing to engage in an act of adjustment.
UY-mak?
Or UY-um-lan-mak?
It turned out that what would shape the form, duration, and function of its discomfort was not the action itself, but the mode of adjustment through which that action came into being.
At that moment, the Subject realized something important.
Its discomfort was not arising solely from the tension between itSelf and the Other.
Perhaps the true source of that discomfort existed within the relationship it held with its Self; the very place from which its orientation in the face of this tension would emerge.
For every experience of UY-um-suzluk was not merely an encounter with the Other.
It was also an encounter with the Self.
And sometimes, the most difficult tension to endure was not the one lived with the Other, but the silent questions asked by the Self.
If the Subject chose to listen to those questions rather than repress them, an opportunity to encounter UY-um would be waiting.
However, the Subject, as it exists within external reality, constantly occupied with surviving amidst the demands of the external world and the necessities of everyday life, would often find it easier to ignore this unfamiliar and uncanny uncertainty than to listen to it.
And so, it would turn toward various strategies of persuasion, convincing itself that looking away was the “easier” choice.
In order for our beloved Subject to move through the tension it experienced both within itSelf and between itSelf and the Other, it needed to decide how often, how intensely, in what sequence, and through which forms it would turn toward the inevitable companions of UY-um-suzluk: UY-mak and UY-um-lan-mak.
Then, one day, the Subject realized something else.
Opening one’s eyes IN this world and opening one’s eyes TO this world were two entirely different phenomena.
The first was about living.
The second was about becoming aware that one is alive.
And if the Subject could truly grasp this distinction, the possibility of encountering UY-um would become increasingly tangible.
Having recognized this difference, another question emerged:
What can I do to open my eyes TO this world?
When the Subject feels ready to become acquainted with its Self, it may embark upon a reflective journey of integration through the descriptions above, each illuminating a different layer of that Self.
The purpose of this journey is not to find the correct answers.
It is to hear how these concepts echo within.
And when the time feels right, when it chooses to listen to the voice of its Self within this tension, those descriptions will be waiting.
Yet, because procrastination is one of the inevitable companions of being human, and since our Subject has already come this far, I would like to invite it to begin reflecting on these questions right now.