being still after all this movement

Last April, I was in Essaouira for days longer than I had anticipated, staring at the ocean, drinking red wine on my rooftop and writing. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was wasting time, that I should be moving south into Western Sahara, that I wasn’t really working on my research. My friend Rob told me to stop worrying. He told me to take my time, to enjoy the luxury of a perfect espresso and a brilliant sunset and a well-lit square and the comfort of familiar faces amidst so much movement and new scenery. He convinced me to stay a while, to give myself space. He told me that I wasn't wasting time, that it wasn't possible to do so; that I was incubating, preparing to dive back into the desert in Mauritania, in Mali, to do great things and to be inspired. He reminded me that sometimes I need to be still.
These days I think often of Essaouira and West Africa and Rob with his words of wisdom and the honesty to speak them.
I try to listen.