Drifting and turning back to the path

I left music but might return to it again

"Love cannot be explained. It can only be experienced. Love cannot be explained, yet it explains all." - 40 Rules of Love

Whirling Dervish show in Cairo

I recently finished reading the 40 rules of love by

Elif Shafak

(some spoilers about the book). The book reminded me of a time period where I followed my passion for music and was living a life mostly out of love. As the world got dark in 2016 with the election of Trump and the rise of the far right, so has my love and passion with my craft to produce music slowly faded out. I found my self drifting away and in place I took an intellectual scholarly turn towards trying to understand more deeply the politics of the Middle East, since the rise of terrorism was tied to the rise of terrorism and ISIS was connected to the rise of Donald Trump and the far right.

Reflecting back now, I sense that my life turned more dull as it took an intellectual turn. The events in the outer world made me slowly loose the love and passion I had for producing music as I drifted away from the spirit (or heart) to the mind.

The novel 40 Rules of Love, reminded me of my narrative and my loss for the love of the art of creating music.

Ella one of the main characters in the two narratives of the novel, was also passing through the dark moments of history during the peak moments of the Global War on Terrorism, and the rise of racism and intolerance.

Her personal life had also fallen out of love with her passions. She got stuck in a marriage that turned dull and unfulfilling. Her husband was mostly busy with his job and was cheating on her. She feels chained by her growing age where she hasn't put into use her English literature degree in the way she planned.

Her job and life was more of a routine, up until she embarked on a writing assignment and by coincidence it was about the story of Rumi and Shams of Tabriz. The manuscript she reads is about Rumi, who is a scholar known for his outer success in scholarship but is not a poet. He feels an emptiness inside of him despite his outer success and reputation. He is introduced to Shams who guides him on a journey to a new self discovery of his creative potential and turns him into a poet.

Upon completing the story, she became deeply moved by the teachings of universal love it contains. She learned how to fall in love with life again and rediscover herself, helping her break free from societal expectations and pursue her passions. She left behind her old life that was stagnant and no longer loving relation with her husband, and set out to live in Konya, Rumi's death place.

At a point when she was hesitant about drastically changing her life and pursuing her passions she was reminded by one of Shams's rules on love. The rule read: "It is never too late to ask yourself am I ready to change the life I am living in my ready to change with them even in a single day in your life is the same as the day before it surely is a pity. At every moment, and with each new breath, one should be renewed and renewed again. There is only one way to be born into a new life; to die before death.”

Its true when they say that art is powerful because it has the power to change one’s being or make one open up to new experiences through storytelling, as the Quran reminds us “Tell stories that they might reflect” (7:176). When something comes from the heart, it reaches the heart. After reading the novel I felt like I want to reembark on a journey again. I am finding the will to rekindle my passion for music once again. I still don’t know what genre I will pursue. It is an unknown, and thats I think the whole point when embarking on a journey, you don’t know where it will end but only where to start. I know after reading the novel that without love nothing is worthwhile.

That is where the final rule comes in. It said:

"A life without love is of no account. Don't ask yourself what kind of love you should seek spiritual or material, divine or mundane in eastern or western… Divisions, only lead to more divisions. Love has no labels, no definitions. It is what it is, pure and simple. Love is the water of life. And a lover is a soul of fire. The universe turns differently when fire loves water."

If you are looking for a novel that might rekindle your passions once again or prompt you to live a life fully, I highly recommend this novel.