Carter Gates -- In Baghdad, Dreaming of Cairo

 December 8, 2022 

The poem, "In Baghdad, Dreaming of Cairo" was very interesting to read for me, and I enjoyed the discussion we had about it. While I was reading it, I started to relate to the message of the poem. The way I understood it, the main character in Rumi's poem did not realize that what he was looking for was right in front of him, and he ended up going down a different path just to find it. He went on this journey to Cairo to find some meaning to his life that will satisfy, and at the end, he realizes "there was a treasure for me in Baghdad, ... What I’m longing for lived in my house in Baghdad!" (Rumi). This is a common phenomena that many people have happen to them unintentionally. People nowadays get so caught up in living their lives for other people and according to society's standards, instead of doing what makes them happy. Many people get this feeling that they need something more that they don't have, but don't exactly know what or where that is. This leads them on a journey of self-discovery, one in which they encounter obstacles that will test them and teach them important lessons about life and about themselves. They will learn things they never knew before, but it will help them become the best versions of themselves. They might eventually realize that what they were searching for was something they already had/knew the answer to, they just didn't realize it at the time. However, sometimes we need to leave our home and go into to the outside world in order to find what we are looking for, because if we never do that, we will never know the possibilities that the outside world holds. It is a hard choice, and it can be very scary, but sometimes leaving behind everything we know could allow us to discover something magnificent, and could be beneficial not only to us, but to others as well. And it could allow us to return home content with our life, finding everything we had been looking for.