The Sahara Desert
The desert makes me forget that I ever loved mountains.
I got back today from a two-night camel trek into Erg Chebbi in the Sahara desert.
Around each sunrise and sunset, I walk and walk. I follow the tiny beetle tracks and wind-made sand ripples. My feet don't want to stop making new prints.
This morning, I danced on the top of a dune at sunrise to Beyonce's song Halo. I've listened to it a thousand times, and I always thought of it as a song about romantic love. Those of you who know me know that I am not religious. But on top of that dune, as the first light of day hit my face, for the first time, I heard the song in a different way:
It's hard not to be moved by the desert. The shadows and curves of the dunes are so soft and sensual.
The horizon is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Desert quiet is a living being that moves and breathes. The stillness swallows up every noise and movement.
The horizon is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Desert quiet is a living being that moves and breathes. The stillness swallows up every noise and movement.
Walking to infinity. Running down a sand dune in bare feet. Jumping off the edge of a dune into a sandy spray. Reading. Journaling. Staring at the sky. Lying on the banks of a dune in the moonlight, trying to catch a falling star.
This becomes my daily desert routine.
This becomes my daily desert routine.
This morning, I danced on the top of a dune at sunrise to Beyonce's song Halo. I've listened to it a thousand times, and I always thought of it as a song about romantic love. Those of you who know me know that I am not religious. But on top of that dune, as the first light of day hit my face, for the first time, I heard the song in a different way:
Everywhere I'm looking now
I'm surrounded by your embrace
Baby, I can see your halo
You know you're my saving grace
You're everything I need and more
The desert dunes (and Beyonce) brought me a little closer to God today :)
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