The story of yearning carried in the heart

“There is a city deep within my heart that bears your name. Its streets are silent, its avenues empty... Yet the echoes of the moments I walked with you still linger there.”

Longing is an existential ache. It is feeling the absence of the one you carry in your heart with every breath; it is being swept away by an inner storm every time you whisper their name. It is looking up at the stars at night and asking, “Are they gazing at the same sky right now?” It is nurturing hope in your heart every day, like waiting for a ship that will never arrive. And so begins the story of longing; silent, yet with echoes deep enough to last a lifetime...

Longing is one of the deepest emotions belonging to humankind. For where there is love, there is longing. Everything touched by love will, in time, bring longing alongside it. When people are separated from what they cherish, a song’s lyrics, a scent, a season, or a photograph can suddenly knock on the door of longing. The feeling that enters through this door becomes either a sweet memory or a searing ache.

“Maybe one day, we will look at the same sky again. Maybe one day, the same wind will brush through our hair. And maybe that day, longing will give way to reunion... But until then, I will continue to live, carrying you in my heart.”

Longing leaves marks both in the heart and the mind. To grow accustomed to someone’s presence and then endure their absence creates an undeniable void within the heart. This emptiness is filled with a loved one’s warm smile, a tender touch, or the safety felt in their presence. But separation makes this emptiness inevitable, and at that moment, the pain of longing begins.

Every longing tells a story. Some long for the innocence lost in childhood, others for their homeland, and others for a love that slipped through their fingers. No matter how different it may seem, every longing is a reflection of love, connection, and the fragile nature of being human. Longing is so intense that it cannot always be described in words—sometimes, a distant gaze or a deep sigh from the heart is enough.

“Missing you is hard... With every breath, every step, every moment I am alone, missing you is so hard. But what’s hardest of all is being in a world full of you, yet being without you.”

Longing is a feeling that weakens a person but also strengthens them. It allows an exile to endure, a mother to wait with the same hope for years, and a lover to turn to prayers filled with their beloved’s name. In the letters of those separated, in the verses of poets, and in the prayers of lovers, longing reveals itself both as comfort and hope.

To miss someone is to bring them to life once more with their presence. To carry someone far away in a corner of your heart is to be with them even without them. And perhaps this is the most beautiful aspect of longing: its refusal to surrender love to any distance.

Sometimes in the silence that echoes at midnight,
Sometimes in the memories carried by a spring breeze,
The longing for you blooms like a flower that never wilts in my heart.

And I know, some paths are not walked, only felt.
Some voices are not heard, only echo within the heart.
And some people... they live only in the heart, timeless and endless.

Time moves forward, but longing never ages. If you miss someone’s voice, even hearing it hundreds of times will not ease the ache. Sometimes you miss the one who left, sometimes the one who stayed. Sometimes it’s what you cannot touch, and sometimes it’s the distance you feel even when you are near. Yet in every case, longing is one of the truest feelings that makes us human. For those who do not long for anything have never truly felt. And those who have not felt have not truly lived.

As the poet once said:
“Everything begins with loving someone.
And longing is the continuation of everything about love.”

Longing exists beyond time and space. In truth, a person is completed by what they long for. Because longing is the acceptance of one’s incompleteness and an understanding of the part of the heart filled with love. This is why longing is painful but also beautiful. For longing is the memory of the things we have etched into our hearts.

And perhaps, hidden within every longing, there is a hope for reunion. Who knows? Maybe one day, those we miss will return; or perhaps, we will continue living with the warmth of that longing in a quiet corner of our hearts.

Longing... As human as loving, as precious as loving.

With Love and Respect

Burak Anaturk

Burak Anaturk is a professional civil engineer. He focuses on sharing lessons from his life experiences, exploring diverse perspectives, and discussing personal development topics.

Email: [email protected]