The first time I saw the desert was a moment I will never forget. I had read and heard a lot about it, but nothing could have prepared me for the emotions that I felt when I saw the golden ocean with my own eyes.
I stood there for quite some time, once again in awe of nature. I looked at the Sahara Desert, and I felt a longing that didn’t make any sense at the time; I felt an uprising inside me that seemed to come out of nowhere.
And there’s silent storm inside me
Looking for a home
I hope that someone’s gonna find me
And say that I belong
I started running like a little kid; run and slid up and down the sand dunes until I couldn’t breathe anymore. I finally stopped, dropped down on the ground and just lay there in the warm sand. After a while, I got up, looked around, and I felt calm and happy.
The other travelers looked at me. I could see it in their faces, they didn’t understand and how could they? I couldn’t explain it either. Why would I, the farm girl, who was raised in the Austrian Alps, feel so overwhelmed by the endless desert? Why did I feel at home, at a place so far from home?
I had felt it all my life; there is a silent storm hidden inside me; it’s a longing that I could never explain. A yearning to find the one place that would feel like coming home.
I carried the silent storm with me for a few more years, until I found where I belonged and it left me with a beautiful calmness.
Storm
great post, really great post…
Thank you. Have a great weekend!
What a beautiful song. I love your description of seeing the desert “the golden ocean”. I have never left the place I grew up- lived in the same town my whole life just a few blocks from where I grew up my longing now is for something new, unfamiliar.
I adore the song, play it often. You have this beautiful, large family and so much support. You have been home all along.
If you have longing now…follow it. Plan a nice vacation with your husband. Go and see what you long to see and don’t hesitate emailing me if I can be of any assistance planing an unforgettable trip.
You are so sweet- I traveled every summer when I was in my 20’s and 30’s, now we enjoy just a one night stay somewhere and then back to the comforts of home. I have always been a “home body” but feel I might want to live in a new town, with new roads and parks to discover-who knows? 🙂
This makes me think of past lives or some soul connection that can’t be explained by our ordinary corporeal lives. I felt that the first time I saw the Tetons – I burst into tears, the feeling of coming home powerful beyond words.
I was wondering if anybody would understand what I am talking about. I wonder no more. 🙂
In your stories, there is always at least one line that really stands out and talks to me.
In this one it was “there is a silent storm hidden inside me; it’s a longing that I could never explain”.
All I can say is “yup”.
Did you listen to the song? Isn’t it the perfect song for us who have this yearning?
I did! .. and it was very startling. Coincidentally, I had just come back from a long walk along the beach and the thought in my head as I came home was … someday I hope I feel calm!
Coincidences like this always feel a bit odd.
We do feel calm, but it never lasts. I don’t feel the big storm anymore, but I still feel the longing and the yearning. Maybe I was meant to be at home on the road?
I’ve never felt the calm. There’s always something …. missing.
Then you must look for it and find it and I hope you will.