Mimo Khair Creative

There has always been a part of me that dreamed of retreat—of silence, of simplicity, of letting go. As a child, I vividly remember a strong longing to become a nun or a hermit. It was real. I wasn’t drawn to it out of fantasy, but out of a deep desire to be with the spirit—to live closer to something pure, something beyond this world.

Then came the teenage years, and with them, the usual distractions: boys, parties, and fun. But that quiet inner longing never left. At nine, war broke out in Lebanon. Life and death became real concepts, not just ideas. In the space between bombings and uncertainty, that longing for the spiritual reawakened, more fierce than ever.

Later, I left for New York after university, knowing deep inside that I was searching for something. Something real. Something whole. If I had to put a word to it, I’d say I was searching for clarity. And that search took me to India in my early twenties, where everything changed. It was a sharp turn toward the ethereal—a deep dive into the spiritual as a first priority. Then came art, which became my anchor, my way of accessing the state of flow, of presence, of connecting to The Unseen.

I chose this image tonight because when I returned to India many years later, in 2016, I saw these pilgrims—barefoot, wrapped in simplicity, carrying their lives on their backs. Their choice was clear: detachment, devotion, and a commitment to walk. But I also came to understand that the path to the spirit isn’t just one. A holy man once told me on that first trip to India, “This is not your path.” At the time, I resisted. But now, I see. There are infinite roads to truth. A moment of stillness, a work of art, a breath taken with full awareness—these too can be sacred.

And one thing I know for sure: I will never stop walking toward the light.