How to Use the Desert as a Teacher

Sit in a canyon. Stare at the motionless landscape, changed only by the angle of the sun and its reflection cast across the mountains. Hear your breath, the wind, and nothing else. The dead quiet echoes your thoughts back to you, urging you to pay closer attention. Listen. “Take another look!” your mind demands. In the absence of sound, the desert shows you what you need to see. You cannot outrun yourself.

Are you seeking to escape your current situation or to enhance it? The desert can help you answer this question before you leave home.

Nature provides us with lessons we can observe in daily life, but the last thing I want is to send you running to the desert in search of peace. The key to thriving during a desert vacation or lifestyle is to understand the preliminary lessons before you head out for adventure. Why go now when you still have work to do here?

Without doing your homework, a trip to the desert will provide a revolution within yourself that you will not understand. The desert will ask you everything you are afraid to ask, not the questions you are asking right now. Because of this, it is important to ask and consider the first few things the desert will point out to you.

The voice in your head urging you to wonder is the same voice you will hear in the desert. It requires hard work before it stops asking questions and starts showing you answers. You will save a lot of time if you ask yourself the first few questions. This will allow you to dive deeper upon arrival. Writing down your answers will be beneficial, but you may also either use them to guide your meditation or spend time simply wondering.

What will the desert ask first?

1. What are you avoiding?

Consider the places in your mind that make you feel uncomfortable. Why do they make you uncomfortable?

Consider your unprocessed grief. Have you made peace with these memories?

Consider the past or current experiences that you believe only time will heal. Will time heal them, or are you using time as a strategy for avoidance?

2. What are you clinging to?

Consider the pieces of your identity that you view as immutable. Why do you feel personally attacked when someone criticizes your spiritual choices, favorite food, even your favorite color?

Consider how you react when you feel your identity wavering. Do you get frustrated or does it make you feel stronger?

Consider moments of nostalgia. Do you ruminate on these memories or are you able to let them float away?

3. What are you angry about?

Consider the moments where you feel aggression rising in your body. Are you able to recognize and control this aggression, or does it control you?

Consider moments when your reaction is greater than the situation demands. Does this happen frequently, or is it more unusual?

Consider moments when you misinterpret miscommunication or disagreement. Do you lose control of your reaction or are you able to take a step back and recognize the difference?

After you have worked out each of these knots, you still have one question remaining: why do you want to go? Are you escaping any of the circumstances you considered above, or are you willing to dive deeper into the reality that you have glimpsed through this exercise? Lastly, consider the fact that the desert is not for everyone.

This exercise helps facilitate an understanding of how the desert will challenge you. If you are up to the challenge, it is time to head out! If this exercise has made you hesitant or fearful, you may have more work to do before making the big decision. Once you reach a point where you feel ready to uncover more truth, you can head out and enjoy the infinite mystery.