The Bedouin
You, who have left behind the confusion of your youth, now stare at a future shorter than your past. You hear the call of the desert, the relentless beating of the hot sun, the crisp dry sand beneath your feet. It asks you to leave behind the comfort of your furniture and your gadgets, and venture out into the heat of midday.
You feel the scorching earth absorb the damp worries about who you are and what you’ve done, leaving only thoughts of survival. Will you cross the great divide from what you know to what is yet unknown, taking with you only enough water to quench your thirst?
You hear the wind whisper the location of vast treasures along the way — great jeweled chests of love emerging from the sand, and mountains of wisdom in hidden caves.
And when emerge from the fire, you will be purified and focused. You will see water and light and vegetation with fresh eyes. Your parched throat and peeling lips will rejoice at the coolness of an ice-cube.
Take the path that leads from the city to the wilderness, and shrug your shriveled story from your shoulders.
You are the Bedouin.
“Don’t think about what you’ve left behind,” the alchemist said to the boy as they began to ride across the sands of the desert. “If what one finds is made of pure matter, it will never spoil. And one can always come back. If what you had found was only a moment of light, like the explosion of a star, you would find nothing on your return.”
― Paulo Coelho, Alchemist
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Technical Information
Camera model: Canon EOS 7D
F/stop: f/2.8
Exposure time: 1/60 sec
ISO speed: ISO-100
Focal length: 50mm
Post processing: Photoshop Elements
Filters: Adjust saturation | Diffuse Glow | Adjust levels
Overlay : French Kiss Collection Textures Diva
Blending Mode: Multiply 65%
That’s lovely writing. Your self portraits have inspired me to start up doing the same, as of my birthday this coming Friday. My appearance has changed so drastically in the last year as it is, I think it’ll be neat to have such a wide breadth of me to look back on. And I’m certainly enjoying all the faces of Katie so far 🙂
Good luck with your project. I’m looking forward to seeing your photos x
Beautiful writing. You are so much braver than I who can’t even manage a good gravatar photo!
If you lived in Sydney I’d take a portrait of you that you’d love. The trick is to think happy/sexy thoughts with your eyes 😉
Love the imagery and that you quoted the alchemist!
Thank you Roshni. I love the Alchemist x