Camel Ride

First, the fish needs to say, “Something

Ain’t right about this camel ride,

And I’m feeling So Damn Thirsty.” ~ Hafiz

Does this image of a fish on a camel in the desert, feeling thirsty make you smile. I love it. Hafiz, the Persian poet, has a way of waking us up with his impossible images. He is asking us to acknowledge our situation. Maybe we feel like a fish out of water. Things just aren’t going right.

Maybe there is a mild dissatisfaction with a job, a vague discontent with life. Maybe minor accidents keep happening as a wake-up call. A mild depression shows its head through sudden outbursts of unexpected anger. Weight gain or loss can also be a symptom of discontent. A thirst for more.

Hafiz calls us to become acutely aware of these feelings and be willing to let them rise to the surface of our awareness and be acknowledged. Then a break through moment arrives.

“When the student is ready the teacher will come.”

For me, the teacher who made a radical difference in my life was Betty Friedan with her book, The Feminine Mystique. I was a bored frustrated housewife who needed an outlet for my energy and caring beyond the walls of my home. So, with my husband’s blessing, I returned to College beginning my path as a social worker and community organizer. The impact of this book has been immeasurable, as it has brought millions of women into full embodiment of who they could be. Who was the teacher you called for a turning point in your life? For whom are you a teacher or mentor as you age dynamically?