By Helen L Karayman
Today, a re-post in memoriam of Martin Ashworth, known as Mr. Splink. This is his last interview, some 6 weeks before his sudden passing. An artist gone too soon… Rest in Peace dear loner.
“Let’s meet Martin Ashworth. He is the first expat I have ever interviewed without him being one of my Journey’s sponsors. You will understand my reasons once you will have finished reading this article…
Martin is an inventive man with a wide vision and lots of talent when it comes to transforming some every day object into a piece of decor. Not only that, but he created the ‘Splink’, the art of splashing ink which due to its random nature gives plain Tshirts absolutely unique designs (please watch the previous video posted on our page).
But Martin has many other stories to tell… He told me how while on a military mission he drowned and flatlined three times until the medical teams succeeded to bring him back for good. In his own words ‘That event has changed forever the way I look at life and not only…’. Following his return from the hospital ward, he started to have a different understanding of things, started to ‘feel vibes’ about people and things that are about to happen. Was it strange to be ‘back from the dead’? He didn’t tell me but he said that rather than being afraid of it, he embraced his new ability and started living accordingly. Well, I guess one could write a book about Martin’s stories as he has so many…
The thing that upset him the most in his life happened less than a year ago when he lost his beloved wife, Jan, to cancer. Jan had been the love of his life, his soulmate, his partner, his rock… and life has never been the same ever since… Fighting the ups and downs after loosing Jan, he remarked how sad it was to ‘not be included’ anymore by people that knew them as a couple. ‘The worst feeling in the world is feeling alone, no matter how many people are around you’…
His ‘rock’ had been smashed away and he fell… but knowing that Jan wanted him to go on and be happy, he kept going, he kept pushing, he kept climbing back the steep wall of life with the help of a few good friends, ‘brothers of a different blood’ as he calls them. He now continues Jan’s legacy at his ‘office’ on the beach where he sells custom made ‘Splink’ Tshirts.
His message for everyone going through loneliness is: ‘As each day goes by, you will make new friends and life gets easier, but the heartache and loss will never go away. You just learn how to manage it better. Life goes on… Take one step at a time and when you get to a hundred steps, look back and see how far you have gone forward. Use what you have experienced not to hold you back, but as a lesson to help you move forward’…
I think this is an excellent piece of advice for all of us, the ‘loners’ that go through hard times… So if you include yourself in this bunch, why not go down to Sardunya Bay in Karşıyaka and get to meet Martin?
One ‘Word’ said at the ‘Right Time’ could change someone’s ‘World’ for ever!”
