Exploring Sudan (Photo: Emily O'Dell)
I took this photo in Sudan at a Sufi lodge in the Sahara. Sitting on a stoop outside the door with an older Sudanese woman with bewitching blue eyes, I felt too tired after a long day of surveying Sufi shrines to stand up and enter the sanctuary. As I leaned backwards through the threshold–practically resting my back in the sand–I found this young boy inside. When he noticed me, he crouched down on the rug, and gave me an unexpected but welcoming thumbs up…
Remember, the entrance door to the sanctuary is inside you…
— Rumi
