Going back to go forward

Dear You,
Feeling very emotional and unsettled this morning. My last day as a resident in Abu Dhabi. I chose this picture because this Starbucks in Khalidiyah has a history in our family. It has acted as the “library” where William, Ines, Mia and Ella have studied and done most of their revisions over the years.

As I write these lines I can see all the years that have passed by, I can literally visualise so many moments and so many memories are coming back with an uncanny clarity.
Dubai & Abu Dhabi: I have loved you and I am grateful for all the experiences, the lessons, the encounters and the memories I am now carefully folding into my heart.
As a “nomad” myself, I totally relate to the sense of belonging everywhere my heart is. Belonging is no longer a sense of place. It has now become a sense of being. Fortunately I can make that happen anywhere so long as my authenticity finds ways of supporting my attention.

My heart is now moving to Lebanon. I am coming home to a place where I was born but where I have never lived. Familiarity and curiosity intertwined.

Today, I pray for all of you who are part of my life, from near or far, in the present or the past. I pray for all of those I haven’t met yet and those I may never meet. I pray that each one of us continues on a path where awareness and kindness, where determination and respect, where resilience and gentleness pave the way for our words and our deeds.

En avant! 
With love, gratitude and a wink;) D.