Lessons from the Desert
If one stares into nature long enough, they will soon realize that it’s the biggest teacher life could offer…
Waves of sand dunes standing next to one another as far as the eyes could see. If there’s a competition among all the lands on the Earth, the desert is the most minimalist among all. In this extreme condition, only limited numbers of lives can survive - “the survival of the fittest” - one will thrive in the environment that’s suitable.
In Latin, the verb dēserere means “to abandon or forsake” - a place that is being abandoned by humans. The word itself is human-centric. We like to label things according to our understanding, the narratives we choose to tell ourselves.
Aren’t we all afraid of Abandonment? In life, we all have to learn to abandon something, or someone. We cannot grab everything we want, so letting go has become a necessary process to move forward. Soon enough, one will learn how to abandon and how to be abandoned, then realize that such action is just a label we give ourselves. It’s not the matter of being abandoned, it’s the matter of what narrative we tell ourselves from such action.
The wind carries grains of sand away. Dunes change their form every second the wind blows. Everything is changing. Nothing is permanent. Acknowledging this and learning to let go is life's secret recipe for happiness.
To my surprise, I found the most kind-hearted people in the world’s most extreme conditions. Living in the desert land of UAE, “generosity” has become a philosophy in life I have learnt to uphold.
The concept of Karam (ﻛَﺮَﻡ), or generosity, stems from the long bedouin tradition of hosting rogue desert travelers who passed through town. Limitation in resources allows one to empathize to another. At the lowest level of life, nothing is more precious than a secure shelter and food.
The vastness of desert makes one feel lost at times. Getting lost in the desert is not so different from getting lost in life. It forces one to seek a way out. The strongest part of ourselves emerge when we’re at the most vulnerable stage of life: “Vulnerability is not weakness; it's our greatest measure of courage.”
