Deep Life Reflections: Friday Five
Issue 130 - Magic
Welcome to Issue 130 of Deep Life Reflections.
In three days, I leave Dubai after 13 and a half years. I arrived in April, 2012, thirty-six years old with two suitcases—motivated by two words I never wanted to hear myself say: “If only.”
Those two words continue to act as a kind of invisible compass. And now, as I look ahead to Spain and the possibilities it offers, it feels fitting that this final issue written from the UAE reflects something of my time here.
This week, I’ve chosen five images from my UAE photography portfolio. These are all photos I’ve taken and each says something about the country and what I’ve experienced living here. Indeed, how it has helped shaped me.
In The Glass Bead Game, a novel by Herman Hesse, one of his characters writes a poem called Stages. Begun in 1931, it wasn’t published until 1943 in Switzerland—the same year my Dad was born.
Several lines stand out for me:
Be ready bravely and without remorse.
To find new light that old ties cannot give.
In all beginning dwells a magic force
For guarding us and helping us to live.
…
And life may summon us to newer races.
So be it heart: bid farewell without end.
“In all beginnings dwells a magic force”.
So very true.
Join me for a visual Friday Five this week. One focused on presence, passage, and the magic of new beginnings.
Wherever they may start, and wherever they may lead.
Visual Reflections of the UAE
Photo Memories 2012 - 2025
1. Movement
The Dubai Marina at night. In the bottom right, a lone figure stands still as shapes rush past. It’s hard to stay the same when everything else is moving so fast.
We get swept up in it. We go with it.
2. Tracks
The Arabian desert is hypnotic. Vast, sweltering, yet capable of incredible stillness. It records our tracks, but only for a while. New sands arrive. The past disappears.
And we walk on.
3. Symmetry
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is open to all faiths—even to those, like me, who are not religious. Its architectural beauty is undeniable, but it’s the symmetry, serenity, and tolerance that stay with you.
A sense that all voices will be heard—and listened to.
4. Cloud City
More and more of us live in the sky now—stacked towers, a mass of languages. What we lose in gardens, we can find in neighbours.
But only if we knock.
5. Path
I found this trail a few years ago. The Al Rabi Trail, overlooking the coastal town of Khor Fakkan. During Covid, I climbed it at sunset and didn’t see a soul.
I came down in the dark, guided by my headlamp—and instinct.
A Question for You
Where in your life is something asking to begin?
This week’s cover image was taken at Fossil Rock. Part of my marathon training —a solitary, methodical climb up a brutal incline of warm, loose sand. Each step followed others. But each left its own mark.
We are small. But we make our own footprints—and beginnings.
Thanks for reading—and reflecting. If one of these images stirred something in you, I’d love to hear.
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