Rumi

RUMI

This morning I was doing one of my favourite rituals: having a nice old cup of tea and flicking through the weekend papers and magazines, all whilst lazily clad in my pjs. In one of the magazines was an interview with the actor Mark Rylance, who I must say comes across as a very intelligent, inquisitive, interesting and inspiring individual (A* for my alliteration there, right?), the kind of person you'd love to have a conversation with and spend infinite hours discussing the weird and wonderful workings of the world. In the interview, Mark mentioned about a chap named Rumi, a 13th century Persian poet, scholar theologian and mystic, and how he once gave a copy of Rumi's work to an appreciative Bob Dylan, non the less. 

Seeing Rumi's name set off a few bells of recognition in my mind, and I soon remembered that I have many, many Rumi quotes written down in various journals and notebooks I own, alongside countless other quotes from other writers and philosophers. For quite some time now I have loved idly scrolling through quotes found on Tumblr (just type in _____ quotes tumblr into Google and enjoy my friend) for hours at a time, picking out my favourite ones and writing them down for safekeeping. I don't know why I do this, or why it gives me so much satisfaction and fulfilment, but I continue to none the less. I do it when I crave meaning and understanding. I do it when I just want new things to think about. I do it when I want words to encapsulate certain aspects of life. In general, I guess I'm quite a philosophical, thoughtful, analytical, pondering, wondering individual. I could quite happily sit in a blank room with only my thoughts and the workings of my mind for company. 

Naturally I love to generate my own thoughts and musings about life and the world, but normally these are large, tangled, complex, ever-expanding webs and trains and clouds that explode like fireworks, never wanting to be contained or restrained. Basically, they aren't concise. They're the metaphysical equivalent of an elderly man sitting in his rocking chair and spewing infinite quantities of wisdom, words, and knowledge. And I love that unrestrained base for thought, of course I do. But sometimes it's nice to seek out new trains of thought to catch and follow. It's nice to find out what thoughts have formed and are forming in the minds of other people. And sometimes it's nice to find someone else's concise summary of a thought I've already had. I love being able to expand and challenge my mind. Open it up to new concepts and perspectives. It's kind of like these quotes I seek out are new CD's I've picked up, and I'm putting each one into the CD player of my mind and giving it a whirl.

As previously mentioned, Rumi quotes are a real favourite of my mind, but it wasn't until today, and that Mark Rylance interview, that I decided to seek his work out in isolation. Discovering Rumi's work is akin to stumbling across a treasure trove. His poetry and quotes are just so beautiful and timeless. So knowledgeable, so thought provoking, so wise, so simple. Definitely words to live your life by, as are they nourishing for the soul and the perfect work out for the electric impulses yearning to fizz and pop and process in your brain. What makes them all the more remarkable is that they are almost a 1,000 years old, with Rumi living from 1207 to 1273, yet they are still just as relevant and meaningful today as they were back then. It makes you realise that the basic principles, struggles, and desires underpinning what it means to be a human are universal, as are they infinite and constant. The answers we seek now are the same answers people sought hundreds of years before us, something I find incredibly fascinating. 

With Rumi's work being so important and stunning, a real must read, (fun fact, he's the best selling poet in the US!), I've made some pretty little visuals of some of my favourite Rumi pearls of wisdom for your dear readers to enjoy and use in any way you please. And I hope they're as sparkling and dazzling to your brain as they are to mine. 

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RUMI RUMI RUMI RUMI (ahahahahahaaaaaaah)