One of the perks of growing up in Turkey that I didn't realize until after I moved to US, is casually hanging out in ancient cities. I didn't know how much history and it's lessons I had taken for granted. You don't know what you don't know until you know it.

After a quick research, to my surprise Turkey has more Greco-Roman ruins more than Italy and Greece. Anatolia has been a melting pot of civilizations for thousands of years. Wherever you travel, chances are there's an ancient city just around the corner. I feel particularly kin to ancient sites near the Taurus mountains. Somewhere along my bloodline, my ancestors probably walked these same streets.

I feel like i can feel the souls as I walk the 2000 years old cobblestones. I love imagining what life was like back then. I picture children running and squeaking, playing hide and seek. I wonder how many looked at the view from my exact point of view, only 2000 years ago.

I can't believe these stones were once someone's home.

People were born here, laughed until their stomach hurt, cried, fell in love, loved one another, made love, broke up, had their favorite meals, had a favorite color, got drunk, made friends with cats, had besties, watched sunset, got mesmerized by starry sky, wanted to change the world.

Now all that’s left are these.

It makes me so romantic and emotional. Makes me realize all the small things and what being alive is all about. I'm a sensitive person. Alas, I feel sadness deeply too. Even when I whine about it, there's not much else I love more than life.

Quick selfie with one of my idols, one of the original head busts of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, at the Ephesus Museum in İzmir.
I don't have a single nonchalant cell in my body.

As I stare at his bust, I could almost hear his wisdom echoing through the stone:

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive—to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.

What are you afraid of losing when nothing belongs to you.

It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.

Remember that very little is needed to make a happy life.

Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what's left and live it properly. What doesn't transmit light creates its own darkness.

Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.

In 100 years from now, we will be gone. Strangers will replace us. They'll have no idea who we were, just as we know almost nothing about the people who once filled these ancient cities with life.

So while we are here for this brief moment in time, lets laugh until our stomach hurts, cry, fall in love, love one another, make love, break up, get tipsy, make friends with cats, watch sunset, get mesmerized by starry sky, and to change the world.

Ancient cities make me cry.

And they make me fall in love with being alive all over again.