What do you think of when you hear the word desert? What image comes to your mind? What feelings does this spark? Dry. Expansive. Lifeless. Hot. Nothingness. Death. Ruthless. Loneliness. Foreign. Oil. War. Bland. Salt. Fear. I thought all of these things before I decided to make my way to the north of Chile. The Atacama Desert. The driest place in the entire world. Truth be told, I had never seen or experienced a desert before this place. And while I had my predispositions, I truly had no idea what to expect. Throughout the past month, some of my preconceptions about deserts were verified. But more often than not, they were often challenged. Ongoing wars between Peru, Bolivia, and Chile have been fought over this land of 'nothing.' Tensions are still high, but Chile refuses to share its prized possession. So 'prized,' in fact, that the government must incentivize people and businesses to settle in this forsaken place with tax cuts and duty free goods. But the money spent on incentives, on drug trafficking, and border control seems to be worth it. What appears a lifeless stretch of land is actually flowing with energy and activity. In monetary terms, coal mines, energy production, and oceanic trading represent the life of Northern Chile. But on a deeper, more powerful level, this place acts as nature's liaison to mankind. Geyser fields. Oases of citrus trees. Hidden underground springs. Roaming guanacos. Moving clouds. Mountains that shine every possible shade of orange and yellow. Pockets of life in a lifeless expanse. Vibrant colors upon a bland canvas. The desert is nothing, and yet the desert is everything.
It would be easy enough to conclude from these observations that the desert is a mere conglomeration of contradictions. Its qualities are inconsistent, and it is pointless to attempt to make sense of it all. But I'm not going to take that route. It's too easy and quite frankly it doesn't do the desert any justice. If I said the desert contradicts itself, I would be implying that I understood the desert enough to draw such a general conclusion. But I don't know enough about the desert to make such a poignant statement, and from what I do know I can say that the desert is neither manipulative nor evasive enough to produce contradictions. It has secrets, but these secrets are not hidden. They are present, just waiting for us to open our eyes and minds enough to take notice. If we are able to do that, I believe that the desert will appear less as a foreign, suspicious universe and more like a powerful, trusting muse.
Okay okay. I'll step down from this cloud for a second to let you know that I have not, by any means, reached that stage of my relationship with the desert. Gurus and spiritual leaders spend years and years in its presence attempting to reach such a state of peace and clairvoyance. I've only been here for a matter of weeks, and some of those days were spent in air-conditioned buses and lush river valleys (well...lush by desert standards). But even so, I did experience enough to realize a thing or two about this landscape, this world, and my place in both.
First, let's just get this out of the way. People--real people--LIVE in the desert. Building upon the knowledge of previous generations and combining that with modern technology, people have adopted a lifestyle that fits this place. They navigate the dry endless hills, forming subtle roads that can only be understood by those who have traveled them before. They form settlements--both temporary and permanent--in places where water can be captured from the sea's morning mist or gathered from deep underground wells. They adapt to the excessive heat and to the apparent lifelessness by creating public spaces that provide shade and by decorating buildings with color and designs. People LIVE here, and they're not alone. Plants and animals have managed to settle in this harsh environment. Animals scavenge to survive and plants dig their roots deep into the dry soil. Life prevails.
Life prevails, but only as much as nature allows. In the end, every person, plant, and animal is powerless against La Pachamama. Flexible and creative as we may be, if the desert wants us dead then so be it. One can use the desert to escape from the rest of the world, but one cannot escape from the powerful desert itself. There is no where to hide. So be humble. Be grateful. Be respectful. We are in its powerful, expansive hands.
Powerful and expansive as the desert may be, it is neither monotonous nor stagnant. Yes there are parts where the sand dunes stretch on for endless miles. But there are times when you can walk for three hours and see the landscape shift five or six different times. Sandy hills. Salty flats. Rocky slopes. Violent cliffs. Crumbling towers. Looming mountains. The surface varies in space. The details change over time. From year to year and from season to season, a shift in the wind or an unexpected rain can cause massive alterations. New valleys will form as newly fallen water rushes over the hard, impenetrably surface. Hills and rocks move as erosion occurs and the earth trembles. Even from hour to hour, the desert can change. As the sun and the moon make their way across the sky, shadows form and stretch--revealing new crevices, noting subtle details, and causing a range of colors to appear. It's magical how the world can shift before your very eyes--as if nature is revealing a hidden message that only you can understand, if of course you take the time to notice.
So pay attention. Look. Feel. Listen. The world is always speaking to you. Nature is always at your side. In the desert, there is a silence unlike anything I have experienced. Unlike the 'silence' of the forests--where animals talk, leaves rustle, and winds whip--this silence fills your every pore and begs you to find a noise to break the vacuum. So you listen hard and you listen deep, and through it all, you find yourself.
A desert is not nothing. It is everything. Be with the desert, and you too become the world.
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