Reflections on Connect, Engage, Empower

Where does a person begin to understand the world? Answering this question is much harder than we think. Because even to answer it, we must first turn inward. If you ask me, a person only truly begins to understand the world the moment they start to understand themselves. And this understanding takes root not through abstract thought, but by touching the living points within life, the living connections. Because a person first becomes aware of themselves not within themselves, but by encountering what lies outside of them.
In philosophy, this is called the subject-object relationship. Indeed, the living, feeling, thinking person is the subject, and everything that comes into contact with them (whether the softness of a pillow, the hardness of a table, or the presence of another person) is an object to them. But the issue is not merely about making contact. The real issue is the door that contact opens within the person. Because the interesting thing is that the subject cannot know itself without touching the object. Place your hand on a soft pillow for a moment, then on a hard table the next. These two different touches do not merely introduce you to those objects; they also teach you the sensory capacity of your own fingertips. In other words, while touching may seem like a way to perceive the outside world, it is actually a journey inward. Hegel has a saying on this subject that carries profound philosophical depth: “Self-consciousness exists only by being recognized in another self-consciousness.” Without acknowledging another’s existence, without touching them, without entering into a genuine connection with them, our awareness of our own existence remains incomplete. That is why connecting is the shortest path to turning inward.
Let’s step away from philosophy and consider this through the lens of social life. Please pause for a moment and reflect. Bring each person in your life to mind one by one. A childhood friend, a college friend, a colleague at work, a relative… Are you the same person with each of them? Probably not. With one person, you are more childlike, more playful. With another, you are more serious, more thoughtful. With yet another, a courage you never knew you had comes to light. With someone else, a kindness you did not even realize you possessed emerges. This is proof of the human being is multi-layered nature and the richness these layers create. Every encounter opens the door to another room within you. Some awaken the joy within you, some the wound, some the courage, some the compassion. And you only realize how vast you truly are as you respond to these different calls. It is precisely here that the true meaning of the word Connect emerges: to connect is not merely to reach out to the other. To connect is to see both sides of the coin the other as part of yourself, and yourself as part of the other.
The famous philosopher Mevlana tells a well-known story in the Mesnevi: The Greeks and the Chinese compete before the ruler to see who can create the most beautiful painting. The Chinese take a wall and work on it for months. Colors, brushes, the finest details… The Greeks, however, take the wall opposite them and simply polish it. They draw nothing, apply no color. They simply polish, polish, polish. When the curtains are drawn, the painting created by the Chinese is mesmerizing. But when you look at the wall the Greeks polished, the Chinese painting reflects there, on that polished surface, even more brilliantly, even more vividly. Mevlana says that true beauty arises from a heart capable of embracing another’s colors and reflecting them. Every time I read this story, I feel I understand the meaning of the word “engage” better. For to engage is not merely to come together. To engage is to be open enough to see the other’s color, and inclusive enough to reflect and accept it.
In another sense, I imagine that every person represents a shade of color. As is known in color theory, when two colors come together, they create a third color. Yellow and blue produce green. Red and blue produce purple. Therefore, if every person is one of millions of color tones (which they are) then every genuine encounter signifies the birth of a tone that has never existed in the world before. I want to shift the focus back from metaphorical expression to social life. Now think of something concrete. A group project you have been part of at university or work. Maybe a project, maybe a presentation, maybe a volunteer activity. You went there with your own color, your knowledge, your temperament, your experience, even your mood that day. Your friend next to you came with a completely different color. Another one was different. Yet another was entirely different. The work that emerged in the end was not just a product of what came from you alone, but from the place where all your colors came together. Perhaps something emerged that you could not have achieved individually. Perhaps a trait you found ordinary when you saw your own color alone shone and gained meaning when placed next to someone else’s color.
This is precisely what lies at the heart of youth work. When you are part of an NGO, a volunteer team, or a European project, you come to know your own strength. Because everyone around you is a different mirror. One person’s organizational skills help you discover your own creativity. Another’s quiet listening reminds you just how important your voice is. Another’s mistake calls forth your patience; another’s success calls forth your humility. This is what it means to Engage: to look anew at your own work and your own existence while becoming part of another’s work. To see their color, to understand the shade of your own color more clearly.
If we were to recap where we have come so far, we connected by reaching out to others and getting to know ourselves. Through Engage, we opened ourselves to others’ colors and created new things together. Now it is time for Empower. Empower does not mean having someone from the outside give you power. Empower means making the power that already exists within you (the power you discovered through the “Connect” and “Engage” processes) usable, shareable, and capable of growing.
As a psychology graduate, I have learned that a person can only see their own power through the genuine connections they build with others. It is impossible for an isolated individual to be strong, because power only gains meaning within a context, a relationship, or an encounter. Consider a young person speaking for the first time in front of a decision maker during a volunteer project… In that moment, power is not being bestowed upon them. The voice within that young person has simply found a place to be heard. Empowerment is precisely what makes the existing potential visible. The words spoken by Yunus Emre centuries ago perfectly summarize the layered nature of the human being in a single sentence: “There is a self within me, deeper than myself.” Something is already there inside. With Connect you notice, with Engage you nurture, with Empower you leave a gift for the world.
The Young European Shapers network exists precisely to make this three-stage journey possible. Perhaps the most beautiful aspect of this journey is this: no one loses their color. Everyone simply comes to know their own color better alongside other colors and carries that color more boldly. Being brave as an individual is beautiful, but changing things by coming together is even more beautiful. At this very point, I would like to share an African proverb I constantly remind myself of one that might just sum up everything I have said: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” I would like to add one more thing to that. If you want to go within yourself, go together. Because no matter how much a person looks within themselves, they see themselves best through another’s eyes. No matter how much they think alone, they hear their own voice best when speaking with another. No matter how strong they think they are, they only learn their true strength when they share it.
To summarize by returning to the project’s cornerstones: Connect is touching yourself by touching others. Engage is seeing your own color in another’s. Empower is awakening to your own strength by growing together. This approach opens the path to transforming this city in a more natural and successful way.
What must not be forgotten is that there are countless shades of color in the world, and as long as life continues, new ones will keep emerging. You are responsible for fully understanding the shade of your own color, embracing it, and sharing it. Because the essence of this entire journey of connecting, engaging, and empowering lies in a single truth: your color is valuable on its own, but it finds its true light only when alongside another color.