Deception: Have You Ever Felt an Inferno in the Absence of Fire?

I am starting with a topic that never loses its relevance and that I have also learned and experienced. Most likely, terms such as "manipulation," "gaslighting," "ghosting," "love-bombing," etc. are familiar to each of you. Terms, images, cases change, but the essence is always the same – LIE.

Usually, people look for ways to spot lies and fight against them. On the other hand, there are those who seek ways to manipulate others. In my writings, I will try to address these points as well. However, going beyond the widespread advice available on the internet, I would like to delve deeper into this issue together with you, the readers.

In many of the examples I have read, experienced, and observed, the topic of lie was one of the points that caught my attention. Through this way another phenomenon, deception, attracted my attention more than the lie or act of lying. I didn't specifically choose the word to cheat or to lie, because cheating/lying is something one does to another. That is, it remains insufficient and limited for the whole point of view that I want to look at. And I intend to assess the deception not only as the "success" of the party trying to deceive, but also as an event that includes the "availability" of the party being deceived, existing conditions and other influences.

On the other hand, considering that in the literature in the Azerbaijani language this content is usually provided under the term "Lie", which in my opinion can lead to misconceptions when discussing this topic. Therefore, as an Azerbaijani alternative to the terms "deception" (En) and "обман" (Ru), I choose "aldanış" (Az), which sounds neutral without hinting at condemnation of the party or participants of the deception.

Thus, I am gathering my writings from this series under the title named DECEPTION.

"I owe me a truth."

"Burn" by Diyar Shahbaz | diyarshahbaz.com

Whenever I think about this topic, the image that usually comes to my mind is related to fire, flame, burning. To my view, to be deceived is still far from the feeling being burned. For me, this feeling is more related to awakening process from a deception. How would you know you have been deceived without awakening from it, right? Therefore, the main image of this series will be FIRE.

Diyar Shahbaz, the author of the image, has a peculiar choice of colors and style. But the work that impressed me the most is precisely this one – "Burn." The author may see something different, but to me, this image represents someone facing (awakening, being burned) the essence  of finding themselves first in order to find their path while being lost in uncertainty.

You will now be able to read the articles I have written and am writing about deception in four languages (Az, Ru, En, Tr).

I suggest you listen to a song that touches the feelings of all the Azerbaijanis as well as mine. This version of "Bayati Shiraz" performed by Mahmut Orhan and Kanan Bayramli accompanied my feelings about writings of the topic under the category "Deception".

I hope you will enjoy the reading as much as I enjoy writing.