As 2012 draws to a close, I wanted to wish you all a marvelous holiday season and incredible start to the New Year!
Thank you thank you for another year of the most amazing, special support and love anyone could ever wish for. I know I may say this a lot, but it’s just that I am so taken with y’all everyday. And what you do for me, for each other, for the world at large. It’s truly unique and y’all are a permanent lock in my heart.
I wanted to take this moment to share.
I recently was lucky enough to indulge in my love affair with Africa and visit Morocco. I savored a fascinating country full of many a paradox, infinite culture, abundant history, and a colorful array of people full of surprises and heart in endless forms. As many of you know, I shot THE WORLD UNSEEN in South Africa years ago, which was my first time in Africa. I was smitten. Since then, I have been to Egypt and now Morocco.
I have never seen skies like the ones in Africa.
There is nothing quite like a sunset or sunrise in that part of the world. And pictures don’t do them justice. They are not just to be seen, but must be felt. They are not just intoxicating but all encompassing.
While I was in Morocco, I camped out in the Sahara desert. One of the most prodigious experiences I have had. Bucket list worthy. It was a long day and trek deep into the desert which concluded with watching the sunset over the dunes. Breathtaking. Once the sun had set, it got cold. Really cold. But it didn’t matter because I was looking up at a most striking moon and a sky so clear and so full of stars, it could make you weep. I was surrounded by the kind of silence that could be eerie if not welcomed. It was extraordinary peace. Stunning to feel.
In that moment, I was flooded with so many thoughts. And couldn’t help but think of the state of the world and what seems to be so much tragedy and hardship these days. But then I thought…even though we may all be in far corners of the world with our own ideas of how to live, it’s still the same moon looking down on all of us and still the same sky we all gaze at. It was reassuring. And I was reminded that nothing was impossible when there is so much we share and so much at stake. Even if we just started with the sky. The sun. The stars. That’s enough. That’s quite a lot.
To carry us for more than a moment.
So maybe at some point in the next couple weeks of holiday fun and debauchery, we can all remember that even though we may be in far corners of the world, it’s the same moon looking down on us. And know we are not alone. We are all in this together.
And we have another chance to get it right.
–Sheetal Sheth