“Knowledge should mean a full grasp of knowledge: Knowledge means to know yourself, heart and soul. If you have failed to understand yourself, Then all of your reading has missed its call" Yunus Emre.”

          ‘Have you ever suddenly found yourself in a different place? When you look up, only the sky is familiar to you.’ These words were the beginning of my graduation speech at the college, when I was in the USA . Currently I am in a different place again, where I had once felt only the sky was  familiar to me, but that has changed recently. 

           My name is Sifa and I am from Istanbul, Turkey. Wind of my destiny blew me away to the Wales for a reason. Long story short, I found my reason here at the Asclepius Therapy Center. Right now this country is not just familiar with only the sky, it's also familiar with Martyn Shrewsbury, who always reminds me of my father. Finding someone or something familiar to you is such a nice feeling, when you are thousand miles away from your homeland.

         My story with the Asclepius began on a sunny Sunday morning. The beauty of the Asclepius’s red color attracted my attention as I was taking my walk. Since the Therapy Center was closed on Sunday, I noted down the name Martyn J. Shrewsbury and his e-mail address. After researching the Asclepius, I wanted gain more experience from their knowledge to widen my skills. Therefore, I sent an email to Martyn. Martyn has returned to me with a very positive attitude. He kindly invited me to the Philosophy and Genesis courses, which he teaches two days a week at the Asclepius. These courses gave me a chance to examine the Book of Genesis, Social Anthropology, and Philosophy from numerous perspectives. Looking at the Genesis through comparative legends, myths, and origins was very inspirational. We have discussed about creation stories, Noah and the flood, Moses and monotheism, Isaac, Ishmael, origins of Jews and Arabs, Yahweh and the goddesses. 

         

 Honestly, I was not really interested in philosophy until I attended to Martyn’s course. The Philosophy course was very enjoyable and insightful. I began to search and read more about ideas of Heidegger, Descartes,Husserl, Nietzsche, Sartre and Camus. It was interesting to examine more closely into the Husserl’s manifesto of vocation; subject-object and existential-theoretical differential, natural and theoretical attitudes. We explored consciousness and cognition in a different way. We have also learned about the history of existentialism, which originated with the 19th century philosophers Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. We discussed human existence, freedom, choice and nothingness. However, learning about philosophy has changed my perspective of looking at the things, and I have realized the relationship between Psychology and Philosophy; they both address many of the same questions. Many topics within philosophy make arguments about how people think, interact, and so on, all of which is in the domain of psychology. As a student majoring in psychology, learning more details about philosophy was very beneficial to me and to the other participants who are from different backgrounds. Moreover, the course was very well organized. Martyn is very good at explaining ideas, which helped me to accept the new knowledge quickly. He has so many types of books on psychology, philosophy, anthropology, theology, history and science at the Asclepius. His reading passion and his books always amazes me. 

My father always reminds me that, the first word of the Qur’an that revealed to the Prophet was “Read”. It is the first command in Islam. He always says that it is a great honor to knowledge the first word in our religion. Therefore, it should be a command to read and acquire knowledge. My father used to put different kinds of books on my study table, and taught me that reading opens our mind, expands our world view, and gives freedom to us. Just like my father, Martyn has been recommending books to me. So Martyn’s recommendation on books made me feel happy, and special as my father used to do.

I also want to share a related quote that my mother always reminds me of;

 “Knowledge should mean a full grasp of knowledge:
Knowledge means to know yourself, heart and soul.
If you have failed to understand yourself,
Then all of your reading has missed its call.” 

written by Turkish Poet Yunus Emre.

Thus, I have realized that the knowledge Martyn has is internalized within himself, which makes him a good psychotherapist to be beneficial for people surrounded him. When we read to gain knowledge, and internalize those knowledges to our lives, we can have the power to make the world a better place to live in safely for all.

        Always remember that reading; opens our eyes, makes us aware of possibilities, and that awareness brings the change with itself into our lives. Read, internalize, and spread the knowledge everywhere you!

Thank you Martyn for the beautiful things I’ve learning from you.