The desert is hot, dry, and vast. Driving through, you'll look out your car window into an expansive stretch of brown dirt, reaching back towards the horizon. Waves of heat rise up off the pavement, shimmering. Lizards scurry along the rocks in search of shade. To the untrained eye, nothing seems to be thriving in a land so parched. Yet this place has lots of secrets to share, hidden in it's dusty patches. As you look closer you can see the bright colored fruit of the prickly pear and the soft, white blossoms on the saguaros. They offer nutrients to the roaming families of javelina and nectar to the whizzing hummingbirds. When you accept the invitation of the brown, rolling hills and venture further, you'll stumble across tiny oases, reminding you beauty doesn't fit into one definition. You start to see yourself reflected back you in the desert. You're seemingly small and insignificant, but in fact you're so much more to the world around you. If you take enough time to pause and listen, then the desert will pass down it's wisdom to you too.
I love helping others capture their story to share with the rest of the world, but it all began with knowing my own stories. Going back to what's meaningful in my own life allows me to see the beauty in what's meaningful to others. Here's a bit of my own story through an ode of sorts to a place that raised me.
