"I am so small I can barely be seen.
How can this great love be inside me?
Look at your eyes, they are small,
But they see enormous things.”
RUMI
We thought we were seeing oasis villages not too far off into the distance. Imagining tiny villagers scurrying about their busy day, preparing a delicious hot dinner for our arrival. Snapping out of our daydreams, Ayman, our Western Desert guide who is from an actual oasis called Bahariya, insisted that there were no other souls in the desert. Except us six and the night creatures that would soon make their places known and share our beds that evening (and yes, a fox decided to rub heads with Aneesa and I leaving behind its footprints in the morning sand).
As we drove further on, we realized he was right. There was nothing there. Just an endless expanse of sandy desert and unearthly rock formations that have seen millions of years of evolution unfold. Not a soul in sight, nor a single breath of wind, just stillness. An emptiness filled the air as we watched the glamorous sun slowly blossom then fade away giving permission for the moon to finally radiate its being, strong and bright. At this moment, drawn to the beauty of transition and change, did we see enormous things.
b.
