Desert Laura

So my friend turns 30 in two days. It's not unusual for me to give him some guff about getting old, especially since he's a bit nervous about it. You know, the typical scare tactics like "say good-bye to your life as you know it" or "it's all downhill from here" or mentioning the wrinkles, sags, hair loss (which he lost quite a while back) lack of youthfulness. It's all fun and games until you start to think, wait, I'm almost 40! Ok, so I'm not that close to 40, but 36 is close enough. In 4 years, I'll be 40...ughh. Now, keep in mind that none of the things that I say about turning 30 actually happens to me...only a few more wrinkles, the hair is still there, no sagging here, and I feel more youthful now than I did in my mid-twenties. Of course, I do things that help me feel young. I'd say half of the people I know are about 10 years younger than me. This has it's advantages and disadvantages , which is quite complicated...

I heard this poem by Rumi on fasting, it seems relevant to those who are fasting this week for the Anti-Joe Arpaio week of action. 10 people are fasting to call attention to the things that Arpaio is doing to this community; to raise greater awareness of how the Hispanic community is being targeted by the Sheriff. It's also relevant as I come back from my few days off...for reflection. I love Rumi. There's hidden sweetness in the stomach's emptiness. We are lutes, no more, no less. If the soundboxes stuffed full of anything, no music. If the brain and belly are burning clean with fasting, every moment a new song comes out of the fire. The fog clears, and new energy makes you run up the steps in front of you. Be emptier and cry like reed instruments cry. Emptier, write secrets with the reed pen. When you're full of food and drink, Satan sits where your spirit should, an ugly metal statue in place of the Kaaba. When you fast, good habits gather like friends w...