I hope I’m reading your dune story correctly as metaphor. Deserts were once seas. Oman’s sand rests on ancient ocean floors - what looks empty is often sediment, layered history.
Your idea of “power sickness” feels less psychological to me and more geological. Civilizations crest, consolidate, erode, and return to dust. The cycle isn’t new. What may be new is the speed.
Perhaps that’s what middle age does. We begin sifting through the sand, trying to locate structure beneath it. In our later years, we look for pattern - not spectacle.
Limits then aren’t moral scoldings. They’re load-bearing beams.
Great to connect, Elli. And I think what excited me about the sand dunes and my thinking about power sickness is that it felt so easy to go over the edge when I was on that SUV. I try to weave physical landscape with reflection on the mind and being in Oman, a beautiful, quiet oasis, helped me cement and weave metaphor. It’s not so much a statement about geology but using our physical surroundings helps us understand our own interiors. For me it’s really about those edges, how easy it is to go over — and then naming and normalizing that so that we can all help each other out. I’m concerned about our leaders, as so many are, and want to see good leadership preserved, without those individuals going over the edge.
Jera,
I’ve just joined your journey.
I hope I’m reading your dune story correctly as metaphor. Deserts were once seas. Oman’s sand rests on ancient ocean floors - what looks empty is often sediment, layered history.
Your idea of “power sickness” feels less psychological to me and more geological. Civilizations crest, consolidate, erode, and return to dust. The cycle isn’t new. What may be new is the speed.
Perhaps that’s what middle age does. We begin sifting through the sand, trying to locate structure beneath it. In our later years, we look for pattern - not spectacle.
Limits then aren’t moral scoldings. They’re load-bearing beams.
— Elli
Great to connect, Elli. And I think what excited me about the sand dunes and my thinking about power sickness is that it felt so easy to go over the edge when I was on that SUV. I try to weave physical landscape with reflection on the mind and being in Oman, a beautiful, quiet oasis, helped me cement and weave metaphor. It’s not so much a statement about geology but using our physical surroundings helps us understand our own interiors. For me it’s really about those edges, how easy it is to go over — and then naming and normalizing that so that we can all help each other out. I’m concerned about our leaders, as so many are, and want to see good leadership preserved, without those individuals going over the edge.
Exactly. And if you want to wax more poetic, dunes aren’t just scenery - they reveal how thin the line can be between confidence and overreach.
The edges of those sand crests are indeed wispy….