‘Dear myself, thank you very much’

The director of the State Conservatory of Ankara University (AÜDK) has written a “thank you” letter to himself. According to Selda Güneysu’s story from daily Cumhuriyet, Professor Hasan Yener became the acting director of the institution following several resignations in the AÜDK. Professor Yener is the leading role in this bureaucratic mini comedy. 

Professor Hasan Yener sat down (maybe he was standing up, we do not know that indeed) and started writing, “Dear Professor Hasan Yener.” 

On the official letterhead stationary of the school, he addressed himself as such: 

“By staging the ‘Scenes from the Candide Operetta’ directed by you, within the 2014-2015 academic year Graduation Ceremony, I thank you for your contribution with your work. 

With respect,”

The letter written by Professor Hasan Yener to Professor Hasan Yener was of course signed by Professor Hasan Yener. 

This is a simple incident which will make those who are not involved in the “letter to my own self” field giggle with absurdity. 

However, those like me will approach the situation differently; those who have lost their way and mind in web pages under the topic “letter to me.” 

As it can clearly be understood from the name “Letter to myself,” it is a person writing a letter to his or her own self. Most of these letters are in the form of “psychedelic mood attacks.” 

Writers, first of all, have an incredible respect for their future selves. I have seen those who address themselves with the gentle “plural you.” My reaction to them was “Please somebody, put some Freud over these souls…” 

In these letters all types of which can be found on the internet, we see that writers go through a “condensing love and intimacy crisis” in their letters. 

These texts contain such low-caliber nostalgia bullets as “gramophone and typewriter” in them that they make you say, “They are so bad that they are very good.” 

From the world of clichés, many sentimental sentences, wishes, with sideburns turned gray, dried leaves, etc. are included…

You must have understood the format of the letters. Do not think I am mocking them; I am a loyal follower of these beautiful sites. Meanwhile, these letters are not actually totally insane. 

There are genuine letters where funny young people address themselves in the future. 

Let us go back to the “thank you” letter the acting director wrote to himself. 

The biography of the acting director that is posted on the AÜDK website shows us that he has a career which is in no way in need of such a thank you note. 

After his education in Turkey he has been in the United States both educating and taking the stage. He has met celebrities. In his biography, for instance, it is said that U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich, presidential candidate in 2008, named him a world-class artist. 

Now, dear reader, was the director heartbroken because he thought, “The director is thanking everyone but who will thank the director?” and wrote this letter? 

Or was he the victim of a joke of “the crowd trying to grind him down by producing rumors about him?” We do not know. 

At the end of the day, he thanked himself; it is not even up to us to say “You’re welcome…”