“A large part of my childhood was spent in Turkey. Occasionally, on nights when we were particularly routy my dad would round up all the kids and take us to see the whirling dervishes. The dervishes are part of the Mevlevi Order and they would perform this “dance” as part of their faith practices. It is a form of meditation, prayer, and centering that brings them closer to God. The “dance” is mesmerizing to watch. They spin, and spin, and spin. We would all sit there in awe. It is almost impossible to describe. When I was younger, I would wonder, “How are they not dizzy? How do they not fall over? Do they ever trip?” I remember finding it odd, how could they feel grounded and closer to God with their bodies whirling ’round and ’round like that? As I’ve grown up, I’ve thought about the dervishes a lot. They remind me that sometimes we need to whirl to unwind. Sometimes we need to experience the dizziness to get to the clarity. We all can learn how to center ourselves and feel the holy, even in the moments when our world feels upside down. Especially in those moments.” -Tanner Linden
How do you center yourself in the middle of a whirlwind?