14/The Egypt Chronicles - Embracing The Uncharted Territory of Life: A Journey of Allowing

14.

Welcome to Alexandria!

12th March

At 6 am we go downstairs and there he is, Khaled is already having a warm coffee. We greet each other with joy and once we are all ready we say farewell to Salama and Hemaed, but not before buying some date syrup, olive jam and olive oil at the little shop which belongs to AlbabenShal, our Guest House for the last 5 days.

At 7 am we are all packed and ready to go. Other than the guard at the exit of Siwa wanting to rummage through all of our belongings, the first hours of our 600 km journey are uneventful. 

Round about midday, Khaled calls Siwa, just to let everyone know we are fine and to find out how things are going there and believe it or not, about an hour after we left, the storm hit Siwa and the rain is now thundering down heavily, though where we are at right now, there is none to be seen.

But it does eventually make its entry, round about Marsa Matruh, Khaled’s hometown. We take a short stop there because Khaled wants to show us the colour of the sea, and though it is raining, it is still not so heavy that we can’t go outside and admire the incredible turquoise blue that he is so fond of. It is indeed very beautiful. A pity we can’t actually go and bathe in it, since the weather is not exactly inviting at the moment.

The remaining 300 km towards Alexandria are all on the coastline, which is impressive to say the least. Not because of the natural environment, but because of the successive holiday resorts of varying degrees of luxury, including a whole new marina called El Alamein, that is incredibly similar to Dubai. I am amazed at the contrast. There is so much poverty in this country, and yet there are over 300 km of high-end resorts colouring the beach scene with all of the holiday fun, food and fantasy that one can dream of. A true idiosyncrasy, to say the least. I smile. And so goes the world of illusion.

The rain has meanwhile gotten stronger, but not a full fledged storm that cannot be travelled in. Khaled is an excellent driver and remains calm and centred. We are so lucky to have him as our escort. 

We get to the Hilton Alexandria Corniche at around 4 pm and Khaled is still pondering whether to stay at a friend’s place in Alexandria or whether to head back home to Marsa Matruh all in one go, which is what he ends up deciding. Trust. This man has deep trust and it serves him well, for he gets home tired but safe and sound, enjoying the warmth of his family once again. We are ever so grateful to him! We still exchange messages to this day, a year and half later just to say “hi, all is well here, what about with you?”. The richness of travelling are the people. Definitely.

We check-in at the luxurious Hotel where we have been given a special room for a special price, thanks to Cécile’s connection with Mansoura Ben Soltana, whom we meet shortly after having got our luggage into the room and relaxed for a while after the long journey from Siwa. The room has a balcony facing the beach, but with the rain pouring down, we are not about to sit outside, for sure. It is cosy and comfortable inside, and we feel so very blessed.

Meeting Mansoura is again a sweet gift. I get to polish up my rusty French and Joana, who was born in France, joyfully embraces communicating in her mother tongue. Mansoura manages the SPA, she is a beautician and Massage Therapist from Tunisia, and is still getting used to life in Egypt, where she has come to live by way of marriage. 

After a warm tea and a friendly chat at La Gourmandise, the beautiful (and delicious) French Salon the The at the Hilton, we go back to our room and look outside. The rain taps gently on our window, letting us know it is still around, though not heavy. We do not have appropriate clothes or shoes for it, so we decide to stay in for tonight and choose to have dinner at the Greek restaurant called Santorini, right here in the Hotel. Actually, there is also a Lebanese Restaurant, which is equally inviting, but for no particular reason we choose the Greek.

Funny thing that we actually had to speak French, whilst sitting at a French tea salon in Egypt, in a Hotel that is originally from Texas, US. A person born in Tunisia (Mansoura), another born in France (Joana) and me born in Zimbabwe, both of the latter, Joana and I, now living in Portugal. And so goes multiculturalism and the global village :)

Back to the Greek restaurant. It is not only beautiful, but the waiter is very nice and the food is delicious so the price is well worth it. At the end of the day, we sincerely appreciate excellent quality, comfort and beauty. So thank you!

We turn in for an early nights’ sleep, in our extremely cosy and queenly beds, slipping into the valley of dreams with a smile of grateful satisfaction on our faces. Life can be so generous, when allowed.

Meanwhile, back in Cairo and in many other places in Egypt, the heavy unexpected storm is wrecking havoc, destroying houses, roads, railway lines… you name it. This is the thing with living by clear and conscious choice. We never happen to be wherever we are not completely safe and well cared for. And for this I am unspeakably grateful. Living in surrender to my Essence is like travelling on Earth in a magic vessel that only takes me to Paradise, over and over again. And I can guarantee it never ever gets boring, though in the past I might have thought that a little bit of drama was essential to spice life up. But it isn’t. At all.  

💙💚💛💜💗

Read the other Chronicles here:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

13/The Egypt Chronicles - Embracing The Uncharted Territory of Life: A Journey of Allowing

 

13.

Last day in Siwa

11th March

Wednesday. Our last day in Siwa. I am starting to grasp why there are several people from other continents that have chosen to buy homes and come and live here. I am past the distaste for dust and the initial impression of untidiness. Siwa has a Soul of its own and it seeps into you gently until you eventually fall in love with it. I am all for love so it’s not hard for Siwa to get into my heart.

Another one of those local bread, jam, fruit and olive oil with tomato breakfasts and we are ready for a day of last visits at our own leisure.

So we decide to walk, getting a closer feel of everyday life in the streets of Siwa. The houses, mostly unfinished, with their dusty gardens of palm trees where dates will eventually be bountiful, women clad mostly in black, wearing their burkas, with only a slit for their eyes, children playing outside, the donkeys, some well tended-to, others not so much, waiting patiently for their masters or moving their wheel carts ahead. 

One man goes by, constantly whipping his donkey, who is already bleeding from such insistent torture and I sigh. Even to be a donkey one has to be lucky! I wonder… how does a donkey choose a more agreeable reality for himself? I smile… This world is rife with contrasts that only compassion can behold, stepping back into a space of acceptance that is sometimes quite challenging for the Human treading the lands down here.

We are on our way to the Oracle Temple of Amun, built a few thousand years ago, back in the day when Oracles were consulted for the purpose of divination and their words defined the course of Human decisions and actions. 

Alexander the Great (over 300 years a.c) , conqueror of Egypt and founder of Alexandria - where we are headed next, after leaving Siwa - is said to have made the relentless 8 day journey to visit the Amun Oracle in order to confirm whether he was, indeed, a son of Zeus, the Greek God of Gods… Confirmation or not, what has transpired through myth or legend could be seen as a Yes, and yet one with such a mighty grip on conquering the world surely would not have it any other way. So who knows what Amun actually said…

When we arrive, we buy our tickets and go up into the ruins. Immediately a sense of reverence takes hold and I know, as surely as my feet are standing on this ground now, that I too have been an Oracle. I can almost hear my voice, speaking across the ages, sense myself in those times, feel, see, touch and yet, aren’t we all Oracles at some point of our existence? I remember being trained as a priestess, several lifetimes in the past. Such unquestionable discipline, the rigours of serious devotion, the developing of an extra array of senses that lie dormant in most humans, a tangible knowingness of living between two worlds, where the visible and the invisible are often a blurry landscape that defines no clear difference between one and the other, and thus all becomes known to the seer and no doubt can cast its shadow over this knowingness. 

I realise how this discipline has come across the doorways of time and space and served me in this lifetime I am currently experiencing, for without it, I most probably would have remained lost in the labyrinths I myself created in order to keep on coming back to Earth over and over again. But my determination was steadfast and nothing could detract me from being the One I knew myself to be, even when I was unaware of this. Nothing has been more relevant to me than coming to Peace and that’s how it has come to be.

Speaking of doorways, the skeleton of several still holds a semblance of what this Temple might have been. And the silence. Even with people passing by… The silence is profound. A perfect place to simply sit in contemplation.

After a while exploring this special place, we try and find a place for Joana to record one or two more self-massage videos. The guard follows us like an unwanted shadow and seems to not want to allow us to roam free around these ruins. So we eventually settle for doing the recording with him hanging around in the far away background, out of sight. Joana is of course, still pretty self-conscious and struggling to find her voice. Nevertheless, doing this right here, in this particular setting, is absolutely relevant. So we do. These videos will never be seen by eyes other than ours, but they served a precious purpose - to pry the inner wisdom free and release Joana from her resistance to shine it publicly. 

We then go and sit on a wooden bench under the share of a cane shed, waiting for the heat to subside a bit more, for us to then move on.

As we are there, sitting quietly, a young man approaches us, I can’t remember for what reason now, but we end up engaging in conversation and Abdo, short for Abdullah, turns out to be a very interesting university student from Alexandria who has taken a few days off and decided to come and visit Siwa, where he had never been before. We talk about life in Egypt, society, religion, different points of view and beliefs and it is a free flowing conversation, where we respect and learn from each other. He is soon to be married to his fiancé whom he misses - also a young university student. She is, of course, not allowed to travel alone, much less with her boyfriend. Not according to local custom. 

Since we are going to Alexandria next, Abdo insists that he would love to show us around town so we must contact him once we get there. We exchange numbers and say farewell, promising to meet in two days’ time, once we are in Alexandria.

What a lovely encounter! It is always such a rich opportunity, to meet with local people from different places and to exchange awareness with each other! This is one of the things I most absolutely enjoy about travelling anywhere. The people. And I am sure it is not only luck, that I find kind people wherever I go. People who are open and willing to interact and share their treasures also. I am thankfully blessed by this endless generosity that kisses the streets of my existence. 

Once we get down from the Temple, the guard who had been following us offers to take us in his dingy bike cart to the Cleopatra pool, where we have already been but don’t mind going again. He is not charging much, so this time we take a ride and once we get there, we relax in a beautiful looking Arabian style tent, where we have a refreshing lime juice and enjoy a bit more of our staying. 

When we feel it’s time to move on, we decide to walk our way back to town. On the way we admire lands with varying degrees of well-tended vegetable gardens, pigeon domes and the ever present Date Palms. Also olive trees, lots of them. We realise that the fruits and vegetables here are quite the same as the local produce in our country. The earth here seems to be very fertile, and though sandy, it is also very moist, for this oasis is particularly well-served with water from the richness underground. 

A thing I enjoy is the sense of safety. No concern whatsoever with crime. This sense that we are safe wherever we choose to be. And it is such a beautiful gift to be able to live like this. No longer having that trigger warehouse hidden somewhere deep below my conscious awareness, waiting to switch on fear buttons whenever survival kicks in. Survival has become a distant memory of a kind of experience that no longer seems real to me. It was just part of another game and in this new one, there is no space for it. 

Once we get to Siwa town and back to our room, we get a message from Adbo warning us about the impending storm, which means he will be taking the bus back to Alexandria tonight instead of tomorrow, in order to be able to eventually get home before it strikes. Hmmm. We have booked with Khaled to pick us up tomorrow at midday.

A short while later we get a message from Khaled, with the same concerns. Asking whether we still want to travel tomorrow. We feel. We feel yes. We reply. He defines then that we must leave much earlier. He will be coming to sleep in Siwa and we will leave at 7 am. So be it. We are ready for this.

The night is restful, though wrought with wind, thunder and much rain. Yet we are sure to have made the right decision. And so be it.

💙💚💛💜💗

Read the other Chronicles here:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

A Deliciosa Sabedoria de Deus em ti

 “Beleza. A beleza reside em todos os recantos da existência, mesmo quando parece inexistente.”

“Ora aí está uma coisa que não consigo aceitar, querida Alma. Simplesmente não consigo compreender.”

“Aquilo que não consegues compreender não é necessariamente inaceitável, querido Humano.”

“Hmmmm. Outra coisa que ultrapassa o meu entendimento é porque tu, a Alma que sabe tudo, quererias experienciar as dificuldades intermináveis de um Humano inconsciente. Como poderias escolher criar um Eu que é separado de ti e esqueceres-te de quem realmente és apenas para poderes mergulhar na falta de senso da vida aqui na Terra. Não entendo mesmo! Sabias que eu me ía perder. Não fazias ideia quanto tempo seria necessário para eu me recordar. E ainda assim jogaste a cartada toda, apostaste tudo numa jornada completamente imprevisível. Como pudeste Confiar nisto?”

“Este é o propósito da experiência na Terra - o senso da dualidade, da perceção invertida. Para que eu me possa conhecer para lá da minha inteireza. Claro que não posso senão confiar. É um dado adquirido que o Humano se recordará eventualmente da sua inteireza. O nosso Amor é inevitável. Saber quando ele poderá florescer é irrelevante. O Humano e o Divino são Um sempre, mesmo quando a perceção de separação está em marcha. Há uma coisa que gostaria de revelar-te agora, meu amor. A experiência de ser Humano implica a garantia de que apenas quando a parte humana desta equação usa o seu Livre Arbítrio para tomar inteira responsabilidade pelas suas ações e escolhas, é que o Divino pode intervir. Pode ser difícil de aceitar, mas sempre esteve nas tuas mãos a capacidade de encurtar as dificuldades, a dor, o sofrimento. Ao Humano foi dada inteira liberdade para experienciar seja o que for no seio da separação. E isto foi por mim escolhido para que Tudo o que É pudesse expandir-se. Até ao momento em que o Humano escolha iniciar a reunião, a experiência é vivida em separação. E para que a reunião se inicie, a aceitação total de tudo o que foi experienciado é o único requisito essencial. A isto chama-se tomar responsabilidade e apenas o Humano o pode fazer. Eu, a Alma, sempre soube disto e sempre assumi inteira responsabilidade por tudo o que tem ocorrido, seja o que for. Para além disto, a minha responsabilidade é manter o Lar quentinho e confortável, seguro e prontamente disponível, com o fogo da Compaixão bem vivo, para que quando o Humano ouvir o meu convite de “já chega” e ele próprio proferir o chamado, eu possa ser conhecida, ouvida, sentida e vista em ti. Nunca é o suficiente até que chega. E este momento chega sempre. É inevitável.”

“Então tu estás a dizer-me que eu poderia ter escolhido encurtar o meu sofrimento se eu tivesse decidido tomar inteira responsabilidade por todas as experiências por que passei, poderia ter escolhido abrir a porta atrás da qual tens estado à espera? A porta que eu não queria abrir? Não era propriamente incapaz de o fazer mas não queria. Preciso de ruminar sobre isto durante uns tempos! Tenho dificuldade em aceitar que durante todo este tempo tem sido da minha responsabilidade permitir a aceitação, mesmo perante sofrimento extremo. Aceitar que de alguma forma era expectável que pudesse saber isto.”

“Querido Humano, compreendo que possa ser difícil de digerir, mas Eu sou Tu e Tu és Eu. Na verdade não há um Eu e um Tu. Por isso, Tu sendo Eu, mas ainda assim sem te lembrares disto, implica também que Tu tens capacidades muito para além da tua perceção limitada, do ponto de vista da separação. São-te intrínsecas, estas capacidades. Eu sou intrínseco a Ti. O brilho que vês em Mim és Tu. Não somos um e o outro. Tal como não o são nenhumas das tuas partes supostamente inaceitáveis. Todas aquelas partes que ainda não aceitaste que foram criadas por Ti, nas explorações intermináveis de Tudo o que É. Tu tens sido a parte de mim que tem sido o grão Mestre experienciador, aquele que tem proporcionado todas as possibilidades que têm ocorrido e que ainda estão por vir, por descobrir, para lá do sofrimento, da dualidade, para lá de tudo o que conhecemos até agora. O sofrimento não tem sido um pré-requisito. Tem sido apenas uma das muitas possibilidades. E ainda assim podemos continuar a experienciar sem sofrimento, pois assim o escolheste.”

“Sim, eu sei que tenho tido dificuldade em tomar consciência que Sou o brilho que tenho achado ser maior do que Eu. Sei-o desde as minhas entranhas e ainda assim tenho estado a mirar as estrelas para encontrar as respostas, enquanto Tu tens estado pacientemente à espera do chamado, sentada em quietude aqui mesmo, no fundo de Mim. Mas tem sido tão divertido buscar! Logo que eu admita que já aqui estás, não poderei jogar mais este jogo.” 

E o Humano sorriu, vendo o seu reflexo no lago da Alma. Chegara a hora, o momento. Era agora. Era hora de largar aquilo a que ele se apegara em nome da identidade. Era hora de permitir que o Um sem forma pudesse ganhar o seu próprio contorno, sem que ele tivesse mais que manter a ilusão de que o seu Eu Verdadeiro estaria algures lá fora. A hora de aterrar em completa aceitação. Aquilo a que geralmente se chama de “ficar em paz consigo mesmo.” 

Fora uma crença enganadora, esta que colocava o que ele buscava lá longe, difícil de alcançar, pois se assim não fosse teria que já ter-se mostrado… de uma forma ou de outra. Pensava ele. Mas tinha-se mostrado. Claro que sim. Estava por toda a parte! Era esta a beleza a que a Alma se referia. Era isto! E ele sabia-o. Lá no fundo. Ele sabia.

“Obrigada.” Disse a Alma. 

Uma lágrima escorregou-lhe pelo rosto. Uma lágrima de libertação. De rendição. De alívio. O Amor inundou-o, precipitando-se de enxurrada pela gigantesca porta por onde a Unidade era inevitável. Um Humano Divino, nem mais, nem menos. A muralha da separação ruíra e não podia ser reconstruída. E ainda que o Humano carregasse os fardos da Vergonha e da Culpa, nem mesmo o perdão seria necessário, pois uma vez que a Alma tenha permissão para fundir-se com o Humano, ensopando-o com compaixão, não há nada para culpar ou perdoar. Fora apenas algo necessário para manter a separação ativa. Agora não era mais necessário. 

E a dança começou, num novo salão de possibilidades até ora desconhecido: o reino do Amor. Cada passo desencadeava um novo potencial. Cada volta um novo caminho. 

Cada momento infundiu-se de vida para além da ilusão e a intensidade daquilo que o Humano que era Divino por natureza se preparava agora para experienciar, desafiava os confins do que é definível, pois não há palavras que possam captar com precisão a graciosidade de permitir que o Amor colore gentilmente a forma. 

E assim é, amado. Tu és O Um por quem buscavas e sempre o foste, mesmo quando parecias não ser. 

 

Texto por T. C. Aeelah

Foto de Henry de Guzman - Pexels

The Delicious Knowingness of God Within

 “Beauty. Beauty resides in every cranny of existence, even where it seems to be inexistent.”

“That is something I cannot bring myself to accept dear Soul. I just can’t understand it.”

“That which you cannot understand is not necessarily unacceptable, dear One.”

“Hmmmm. Something else I can’t grasp is why you, the all-knowing Soul, would want to experience the endless struggles of an unconscious Human. How you could actually choose to create a Me that is separate from you and forget all about who you truly are just to be able to dive into the mostly unnameable senselessness of life here on Earth. I just don’t get it! I mean, you knew I would get lost. You had no idea how long it would take for me to remember. And yet you played full house anyway, you bet the whole shabang on a completely unpredictable ride. How could you Trust something like this?”

“This is the whole purpose of experiencing Earth - the whole sense of duality, of reverse perception. For me to know myself beyond wholeness. Of course I cannot but Trust. It is a given that the Human will eventually remember itself to be wholeness. Our Love Affair is inevitable, though when it will bloom is not relevant. Human and Divine are One always, even when the perception of separation is underway. There is something I would like to reveal to you now, dear One. The whole experience of becoming Human entails the guarantee that only when the Human part of the equation uses Free Will to take full responsibility for his or her actions and choices, can the Divine step in. Hard as it may be to accept, it has always been in your hands to shorten the struggle, the pain, the suffering. The Human has been given free rein to experience everything and anything in separation, and this I have chosen in order to expand all that Is. Until such time that he or she chooses to initiate reunion, the experience is in separation.  And for reunion to commence, complete acceptance of all that has been experienced is the only essential requirement. This is called taking responsibility and only the Human can do it. I, the Soul, have always been aware of this and have always taken full responsibility for all that has come to pass, no matter what. Other than this, my responsibility is to keep Home warm, safe and readily available with the fire of Compassion alive, so that whenever the Human hears my “it’s enough” invitation and sounds the “it’s enough” call, I can be known, heard, felt, seen within. It is never enough until it is. And this time always comes.”

“So you are telling me that I could have chosen to shorten my suffering if I had decided to take full responsibility for every experience I have gone through and chosen to open the door behind which you have been waiting? The door I was not willing to open? Not incapable, but just unwilling? This is something I will have to chew on for a while. I have trouble accepting that all along it has been my responsibility to allow acceptance, even in the face of extreme suffering. That I was expected to somehow know this.”

“Dear One, I understand it might be hard to grasp, but I am You and You are Me. There is no You and Me in actual fact. So You being Me, yet not remembering this, also implies that You are capable beyond your limited view from the standpoint of Separation. It is intrinsic to You. I Am intrinsic to You. The sparkle you see in Me, is You. We are not one and the other. As are not any of your supposedly unacceptable parts. Those that you have not yet acknowledged to have been created by You in the endless explorations of All that Is. I did not know what you would actually experience. I only had the broad strokes. You, dear Human Me, You have been the grand Master Experiencer part of me, conveyor of all of the possibilities that have come to pass and still there are many more to discover, beyond suffering, beyond duality, beyond all we have known so far. Suffering has not been a pre-requisite. It has just happened to be a possibility. And yet, we can go on experiencing without it, for you have chosen so.”

“Yes, I know it has been hard for me to realise I Am the brilliance I have perceived to be more than Me. I know this from deep down and yet I have been looking up into the starts for answers, whilst you have been patiently waiting for the cue, sitting in stillness right down here, inside of Me. Seeking has been so much fun though! Once I admit you are already here, I cannot play this game anymore.”

And the Human smiled, looking at his own reflexion in the lake of Soul. It was time now. Time to let go of what he was holding onto for the sake of identity. Time to allow the formless Oneness to gain shape as He himself, no longer having to keep the illusion that his True Self had to be somewhere out there, landed in complete acceptance - that which is generally called “coming to Peace with oneself”. 

It had been a luring belief, this one that whatever he was seeking for had to be far away and hard to reach, or else it would have already made itself known to him, somehow. At least, so he thought. But it had made itself known. Of course it had. It was everywhere! This was the beauty Soul was talking about. This was it! And he knew it. Deep within. He knew it.

“Thank you.” The Soul said.

A tear rolled down his cheek. A tear of liberation. Of surrender. Relief. Love came flooding forth from the gigantic doorway that inevitably made there be One - a Divine Human, no less. The wall of separation had crumbled and could not be rebuilt. And though the Human carried the burdens of Shame and Guilt, not even forgiveness was necessary, for once the Soul is allowed to seep compassion into all of its Human pores, there is nothing to forgive or be ashamed of. It was just a device necessary to keep separation in place. Now no longer needed. 

And the dance began, now in a new ballroom of possibilities unknown so far: the realm of Love. Each step unfolded a new potential. Each twirl a new way. Each moment became rife with Life beyond illusion and the intensity of what the Human that was Divine in nature was about to experience defied definition, for no words could fully grasp the Grace of gently allowing Love to colour form. 

And so it is dear One. You are the One and always have been so, even when you seemed not to be.

Text by T. C. Aeelah

Photo by Evie Shaffer - Pexels

 

The Olive Saga II

 The Olive Saga Part II

So you already know I loooved picking olives together this year with friends and family and this love shared amongst each other and also Nature yielded abundantly😉🌱🌿 well we just had to do it again!!!

So Pedro started looking at his olive trees with a different reverence and he invited us to help pick his olives for the first time too😁In 3 days again, we went from 3 to 4 to 3 and then only 2 people at the very end, and picked 750 kg which yielded 100 litres of delicious Olive oil, an even better proportion than the first round here at my place ❤️and it was such a blessing to be in a quiet village lost in the vast lands of Alentejo, where the silence is coloured by the sheep herds' bells, the Church clock chiming the time every hour, the cooler air of Autumn settling in, with the crisp morning chill kissed by the shy sun and the clouds settling in on the second day to bless our harvest with the season's rain, all received with a smile, grateful to spend so much time outdoors😊

After each tree's treasures are gathered onto the net down below, sitting down to sort the leaves and small branches out from the piles of olives is solace, feeling the warm, sometimes moist ground underneath us and taking in deep breaths of fresh earthy air, recovering our strength for the next tree... All so peaceful, such simple joys💧🍃🌿

And having a special friend like Margarida Moreira to come and housesit while I am away, caring for the dog, the cat, the chickens... And then arriving home and receiving the most beautiful surprise! Lying on my bed, a painting crafted with the colours of Love ❤️thank you so much Margarida, for painting the One you see in me🙏 Life beyond technology is so richly fulfilling that I don't spend much time online, actually very little, so it takes me a while to share these special moments but here it is now, shared with endless gratitude❤️❤️❤️

 

A caminho de Ser... uma águia

Há muito se foram os dias do aconchego da mãe águia sentada sobre o que parecia ser um mero ovo que acabou por produzir-me a mim! O dia em que quebrei a superfície da casca morna que havia sido o meu lar, simplesmente porque deixara de haver espaço para mim lá dentro, foi uma descoberta incrível de "Ah! Há mais!"

Havia mais 2 como eu, mais a mamã e o papá que eram gigantescos! Invencíveis! E eu sabia que era naquilo que eu haveria de tornar-me, ainda que da minha perspetiva minúscula parecesse ser um grande feito vir a ser aquele pássaro tão grandioso, majestoso, a deslizar pelos céus infinitos. 

O nosso ninho estava empoleirado tão alto que do nosso ponto de vista, a coisa mais próxima era mesmo o céu. Era céu e mais céu e depois, lá no fundo onde o horizonte se reúne, havia terra.

Bem, sabes, um dia, enquanto a mamã e o papá estavam por fora, a fazer o que quer que fosse que eles faziam e que resultava em trazerem-nos pedaços deliciosos de coisas boas para engolirmos, um dia fiquei mais aventureiro e cheguei-me centímetro a centímetro até à beira do ninho. Estava tão, mas tão curioso que tinha mesmo que saber que raio estava por debaixo da nossa casa!

Xiiiii! Apanhei um susto enorme! Estávamos tão alto que o chão lá em baixo parecia demasiado longe sequer para vislumbrar! Foi aí que me dei conta que a única forma de sairmos do nosso ninho seria, eventualmente, a voar! Dei-me um pequeno avanço, batendo as asas com tanta força quanta conseguia para ver se acontecia alguma coisa. Não. Ainda estava firmemente fixo no interior do ninho. Tentei uma e outra vez até que fiquei tão exaurido que colapsei e adormeci, frustrado. Sonhei com asas grandes e correntes de ar e até tive uma espécie de pesadelo quando as asas no meu sonho deixaram de funcionar! Mas felizmente a mãe e o pai estavam no seu caminho de regresso a casa e agarraram-me... no meu sonho, por isso fiquei seguro. 

O meu irmão e a minha irmã não pareciam ter interesse nesta coisa de voar, pelo menos não tanto quanto eu. Para eles estava tudo bem como estava agora mesmo e não se maçavam em querer saber mais. Sabiam que as coisas seriam como teriam que ser e que o que tivesse que ocorrer ocorreria no seu próprio tempo. 

Invejava-lhes a atitude e ainda assim não conseguia largar aquela minha expetativa. Não agora, depois de ter visto o que estava lá em baixo. Talvez eles estivessem assim descansados porque não se tinham acercado da beira do ninho. Só que agora que eu sabia, não podia obrigar-me a não saber. 

Enfim. Os dias passavam e nós crescíamos. A mamã e o papá vinham e íam conforme lhes apetecia e traziam-nos delícias que recebíamos com regozijo cantado. 

A nossa penugem transformou-se em penas e o espaço no nosso anteriormente enorme ninho passou a ser confinado. 

O dia começa a raiar e a grande bola vermelha de calor começa a subir no céu mas a mamã e o papá não vão a lado nenhum. Hoje vão empurrar-nos para fora! Uhhhhhh! A mamã afasta-se a voar e depois volta, instigando-me a ficar empoleirado na berma do ninho até que a única coisa possível é perder o equilíbrio! E é o que acontece! E é aí que, conforme me vejo em queda descendente rumo ao chão recordo, "bate as asas! Bate as asas!" Fecho os olhos, respiro fundo e bato as minhas agora enormes asas. Uau! Espera aí! Afinal não se trata de fazer um esforço! Basta abrir bem as asas e deixar que a brisa as sustente. De repente mil luzes acendem-se dentro de mim e dou-me conta daquilo que sempre soube mas que não estava preparado para assumir até agora! É tão simples! Tão simples! "Estou a voar! Estou a voar!!!!!! Olhem para mim!!!! Iupiiiiii!" Nada mais importa. Agora apenas existe isto. Apenas este flutuar, este deslizar, este descobrir do que as minhas asas são capazes, descobrir como fundir-me com o céu, tornando-me Águia. Isto que sempre foi o que houvera de ser. 

Recordo-me do meu pequeno eu a tentar acelerar desesperadamente o que não estava ainda maduro, a minha ânsia e a minha frustração, o meu esforço para atingir o que eu já era mas que não tinha paciência para permitir que se desenrolasse no seu próprio tempo. A minha curiosidade foi uma bênção e um martírio ao mesmo tempo. Mas no final, tudo funcionou porque não há forma de não nos tornarmos naquilo que já somos!!!

 

Texto por T. C. Aeelah

 

Becoming...

 Becoming…

Long gone are the days when the warmth of mommy eagle sitting over what seemed to be but an egg, eventually produced me. 

That day when I broke the surface of the warm shell that had been my home because I simply could no longer fit in there, was such a joyful discovery of “oh! There is more!”

There were 2 others like me, plus mommy and daddy who were gigantic! Invincible! And I knew that that was who I was to become though from my tiny point of view it sure seemed like a hell of an achievement to ever be that grand, majestic bird gliding across the infinite sky. 

Our nest was perched up so high that from our point of view, the closest thing there was was sky, sky and more sky and then, far off on the horizon there was land.

Well you know, one day, while mommy and daddy eagle were out doing whatever they did which resulted in them bringing us yummy chunks of goodness to gulp down, one day I got a little bit adventurous and slowly inched towards the edge of the nest, cause I was so darn curious I just needed to know what on earth was under our home!

Blimey!!! I got a heck of a fright! We were perched up so high that the ground down below seemed absolutely too far away to fathom! I realized then and there that the only way to get out of our nest, eventually, was to fly! I gave myself a bit of a head start by flapping my wings as hard as I could to see if anything happened. Nope. I was still firmly riveted to the inside of our nest. I tried over and over again until I got exhausted and just collapsed into a frustrated slumber. I dreamt of big wings and air currents and I even had a bit of a nightmare when the wings in my dream stopped functioning! But fortunately mum and dad had been on their way home and had grabbed me… in my dream, so I turned out to be safe.

My brother and sister didn’t seem to be interested in this flying thing as much as I was. They were just ok with the way things were right now and couldn’t be bothered to want to know more. They knew that things would take their own course and whatever were to happen would happen in its own time.

I envied their attitude and yet I could not bring myself to let go of the expectation. Not now that I had seen what was down below. Maybe they were at ease because they had not ventured to the edge. The thing is that now I knew, I could not make myself not know.

Anyway. The days went by and we grew bigger and bigger. Mommy and daddy came and went as they pleased and brought us delicious yummies which were received with gleeful chirping delight.

Our fur morphed into feathers and the space in our previously huge nest was now quite confined.

The day starts dawning and the big red ball of warmth starts rising but today mommy and daddy are not going anywhere. Today they are pushing us out. Whoa!!!! Mommy flies out and then back and coaxes me to perch on the very outermost edge of the nest until I cannot but lose my balance! And I do! And that’s when, as I start plummeting to the ground down below, I remember “flap your wings! Flap your wings”. I close my eyes, take a deep breath and flap my now much larger wings. Lo and behold! Wait a minute!!! It’s not about making an effort! It’s about opening them wide and allowing the breeze to hold them up. All of a sudden a thousand lights switch on inside and I realise what I have always known but was not ready for it until now! It is so simple! So simple! “I’m flying! I’m flying!!!! Look at me! Yeeeeee” Nothing else matters. There is just this now. Just this gliding, this discovering what my wings can do, how to blend with the sky, becoming an Eagle. This that I was always meant to be. 

I recall my small self trying desperately to accelerate what was not yet ripe, my eagerness and my frustration, my effort to achieve that which I already was but was not patient enough to allow it to unfold in its own time. My curiosity was a gift and a curse at the same time. But all in all it worked out just fine because there is no way to not become what one already is!!!

 

Text by T. C. Aeelah