sábado, 11 de dezembro de 2021

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

18.

Goodbye Egypt

16th March

Our last day. The day we go back to Portugal.

Yesterday was the first day we were aware of the Covid-19. I received an email from my Publisher talking about it and actually asked if it was some kind of government restriction or something, as I was not yet acquainted with this denomination or that there was an issue in the first place. The man must have thought I was crazy when he read my email or that I was kidding or something!!!! But the fact is that in our travels we were not at all concerned about the news. Well, we never are, really. And so we did hear about the Corona thing becoming an issue when we got to Cairo, but still we were at the café and it was full and no one seemed to be very concerned.

My daughter had mentioned something about airports being shut down and the need to maybe come back earlier but I had reassured her we would be going on the 16th and there was no need for concern. Which was exactly the case.

Abeer had said she wanted to take us out to dinner once we got back from Alexandria but after the storm she was not up for it any longer. And possibly the Corona was already something she was considering might be a threat too. So that was it. No dinner to say farewell. We would have loved to hug her though, to thank her in person for all of her help in suggesting our itinerary and getting it all organised and also because we simply loved meeting her. So thank you very much Abeer and Cécile! It was a blessing that you came our way and we hope to see you again.

After breakfast we check out and call an Uber to the airport. Simple. Clean. Safe. Just as we choose.

It is the first time of the many to come in the following months, that we are offered hand sanitiser after leaving the taxi.

At the airport all seems to be flowing easily. Some people are wearing masks and keeping their distance. Others not.

We have a bit of a laugh at a man standing behind a young guy who is on the phone and keeps on blowing his nose, apparently oblivious of the new pandemic scare. The man keeps on looking at him with a very disconcerted look, all too unhappy for being right behind him, and trying as he can to keep his distance. Eventually he moves to another place and removes the purveyor of his distress from sight.

We get past security, who by now are measuring temperatures but nothing else than the regular thing at airports.

Once on the plane, we are informed there will be no meals served due to the current restrictions.

When we get to Vienna, where we are changing to another plane, we are presented with a sight we have never before come across: a completely deserted airport. All shops are closed, staff are wearing masks and gloves, it’s like a scene from a doomsday movie with the added bonus that there is a lot of space and no noise. It is like an apocalyptic scene. Surreal.

Regardless, everything is flowing and we get on our other plane on time, headed for Lisbon, our last stop.

It is almost midnight when we get there and again the airport is pretty empty. We are asked for nothing and it is completely simple to grab our bags and leave.

Pedro, my boyfriend, is waiting for us outside, which is a gift, since at this time there are no trains or buses to Tomar.

We are happy to see each other once again and share our stories.

Little did we know that this would be the start of a few long months of lockdown and had we not caught our plane on this day, we would have found more and more restrictions until Cairo airport was shut down on Thursday the same week.

Over one year into the Covid-19 scare, which never caught me in its fearful snare, and I must say I do feel the world has changed. It is something I cannot quite define, and that is not yet very visible, but I am sure something fundamental has shifted.

Over and over again I had said the world needed to slow down, people needed to stop and reassess, something had to shift. Well the world was made to stop and people were given the opportunity to reassess. Many have done so, others have just slipped back into their prior habits, but what has come of this unexpected turn of events is yet to be seen though I can sense it and what I sense is fundamentally extraordinary.

I will leave it right here, for now and I invite each one of you that is capable of opening your heart and receiving whatever gift is here right now for you to receive, to do so in profound gratitude and let go of all of the fear, the blame, the hurt and the struggle to make sense.

Peace lies in the heart of those who allow it. May it be yours also.

💙💚💛💜💗

Read the other Chronicles here:

O meu namoro com o mar

Ía eu a saborear a fresca brisa mareada de sal, quando vejo este doce "Gosto de Ti" deitado na areia, a brincar comigo. "Eu também gosto", respondi ao mar, à areia, ao céu, às nuvens polvilhadas de leves pingos de chuva. Gosto muito.

E eis que no dia seguinte o mar me pergunta, com o auxílio da sua companheira areia: "Namoras Comigo?"

Ai que alegria! Claro que sim! Foi por isso que vim hoje ter contigo, para te namorar, sentir a tua espuma fofa beijar-me os pés e deitar largos abraços de água pelo ar, enquanto os meus cabelos se riem felizes ao vento, salpicados de água fresca, a mesma que me banha o corpo de vida. Sim! Claro que namoro contigo! Não quero eu outro namorar neste momento intenso de ser. Este agora que clama por ser todo nosso.

Amo-te mar. Sempre. Nem frio. Nem vento. Nem chuva. Nem ondas. Nem nada me aparta de ti.

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

17.

Stillness in Cairo

15th March

We wake up slowly. Peacefully. Hmmmm. What a delicious nights’ rest.

Breakfast is waiting for us downstairs, so we get ready. gently, and go down to enjoy it.

There are a few things we have left for today. For instance going to the Egyptian Museum, right across the road. A must see, by any touristic standards.

We do go there. And at the door, we look at each other and… well, we don’t feel like going to visit a Museum today. No matter how important it is and even knowing it is far away from our homeland and we won’t have an opportunity to do it tomorrow or any other day soon. And yet… yet we respect how we feel and decide to turn around and go for a walk instead.

We were to be visiting the Khan El-Khalili today, the famous bazaar and souk in the historic centre of Cairo. But again, we look at each other and we feel the same. We simply don’t feel like it at all. So we decide not to go. At least not now. Maybe later. Who knows. The will might come, eventually.

This connection between Joana and I is something so precious, so special, I can’t even begin to explain but I will try.

You see, it’s that between us there is such an affinity, such a level of understanding, that oftentimes no words are needed. We get each other’s vibe and we know what is meant. Even when something is hard to explain, we can relate to what we want to convey through an extra sense. There Is a bond, a love that goes way beyond anything I have ever experienced with anyone. Not even with any romantic relationship I have ever had.

Our friendship is so pure, so honest, so transparent that we trust each other as completely as we trust ourselves and there have been times when we have trusted one another even more than ourselves. There are really and truly no secrets between us. We bring out the very best, the very brightest, most powerful radiance and wisdom in each other. We impel each other forward into the unknown and together we can see such a broad landscape that our conversations and realisations defy even the wildest dreams and imaginings we could have explored on our own. We support each other, enhance each other and couldn’t be more blessed than we are to have been guided to allow ourselves in each other’s lives. Every day I thank this relationship, this friendship akin to sisterhood but even that cannot accurately describe our relating.

In our 11 years of friendship we have not even once fallen out with each other. Nothing has been too hard or scary to face and discuss. And we have never imposed on each other or been a burden or even relied on each other. We have been there for each other, yes we have and we are, but not in reliance. Simply in trust. In love. In a big heartfelt “yes”. So when we are together sometimes it is like being alone, not in a lonely way, but in the sense that each one has all of the time and space to be and do whatever we each choose and we tend to be so synchronised that our choices always flow towards convergence and this brings a richness to our lives that we would not be experiencing alone.

This is how special Joana is to me and I am so happy she chose to follow her heart and come to Egypt with me. Actually, she is the one who really had wanted to come to Egypt all her life. I had never really felt the impulse before now. I had to integrate a few lifetimes in order to overcome some resistances I had, before the time was ripe to allow for this moment where I could really fully receive this country, these energies, all of it in a big sparkling bundle of abundant grace.

After our walk, we go up to our room for a while and decide to contact Duaa, the lovely lady who was selling books at the WEF Conference and whom we so enjoyed meeting and interacting with. You know, it’s become clear that she is the one who has to receive the dress I told you about earlier on. The dress I had been gifted with by dear Dr Harbeen Arora and that I had felt I had to pass on here in Egypt. And I had felt it was Duaa all along. But since she had initially declined, incapable of receiving what she deemed to be “so much”, I had let it rest for the remaining time of our adventures in Egypt, letting myself sense as we went to each place, if there was someone else that it was destined to. But now it is our last day and I am sure. So I call Duaa and let her know that we are waiting for her at the quaint La Poire Café, just downstairs from our room. I ask her to bring a travel bag so she can take the dress with her.

And so she comes and we meet at La Poire and exchange gifts, both physical and non-physical and have some delicious cakes and drinks. It is a very very special 2 hours we spend together and no Museum or bazaar can really compare to this. It can be fun, interesting, prophetic even, but this moment together is no less valuable and irreplaceable. Thank you Duaa. Thank you so so much!

La Poire

Duaa's gift for me

Again in our rooms we rest, we breathe, we enjoy our silence, we write, we read. And still the moment where we feel like going sightseeing does not show up. It’s something so strong, this willingness to just stay still. As if we are holding something. Keeping something sacred. Holding Peace. Stillness. Serenity. Silence. Right here. Facing Tahrir Square. The same one where the Arab Spring emerged 9 years ago, witnessing a revolution the likes of which had never been imagined - a revolution against corruption, social injustice, economic inequality, where words were spoken that had until then been whispered only in secret, where will power was stronger than fear and where hope turned into change. And though the changes have not been as massive as the revolution desired, still the knowingness that it is possible became aflame in hearts that were previously helpless and torn. Here is an article (click the word) about that unprecedented Spring, just in case you’d like to know more about it (if you don’t already).

Interesting that Mansoura from Tunisia, the country that first inspired Egyptians to also rise against corruption, got married to someone from Egypt. Two countries whose youngsters used social media to disseminate a revolution, a much needed change in both cases.

Well, our day goes on uneventful. Just here. Just Present. And we don’t regret not having visited more places or done more things. We feel fulfilled. Grateful. Our travels are complete. For now.

Tomorrow, when we leave, we will be happy to have come and equally happy to be returning home. Grateful. Simply and utterly grateful.

💙💚💛💜💗

Read the other Chronicles here:

sexta-feira, 10 de dezembro de 2021

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

16.

Wow Alexandria!

14th March

Today is our last day here in Alexandria, but we have a lot of time before we catch our train to Cairo at around 5 pm.

We have definitely decided to go to the Alexandria Library. The icon of this city and the most famous library of Classical antiquity, originally built between 300 and 200 BCE. Its fate, however, became vastly mixed up in stories of greed, plunder and destruction the account of which goes beyond these Egypt Chronicles of mine but I leave you with an article (click to view) I found where you can find our more about the famous (or infamous?) Library :)

Mansoura also highly recommended the Montazah Gardens and the Royal Jewellery Museum which we will be going to for sure.

However, our first morning delight is the hotel’s SPA. It is small but welcoming and we savour the warmth of the Jacuzzi tub, the steam room and the sauna, though we don’t go out into the swimming pool because it is still a bit cilli.

After this, back up in our room, we get ready for breakfast, but not before recording two more of Joana’s Self-Massage videos, which again you will never get to watch. They just served the purpose of breaking through the veil of lack of self-confidence and shaking the inner circuits from unnecessary dust that has settled across the ages of being Human.

By now Joana is under a serious spell of “too good to be true syndrome”. Remember back when I mentioned the “deer with the floodlights in her eyes” effect? A somewhat unexplainable host of fears coming up, seemingly out of nowhere when one is out of one’s comfort zone, in an unknown territory, yet having an absolutely wonderful time?

Well this happens for a very simple reason. When life gets really good, filled with delicious experiences that tingle the senses to open up for more, filled with love and kindness and joy and no worries at all, filled with peace and wisdom and harmony - when life gets fabulous, the heart opens. We let our guard down - those walls we tend to put into place to separate ourselves within.Those walls become transparent, thinner, and whatever has been confined or hidden behind them becomes palpable and there is no way we can avoid feeling whatever is there. This means that the fears, the small Human Self’s limitations and perceptions of lack in all senses, become available to be addressed. After all, they too are an integral part of us whilst being kept locked away and they cannot cease existing somewhere in our unconscious or subconscious without being fully acknowledged, embraced and allowed back Home, into the pool of Presence where our Essence bestows compassion over the whole of us.

Only by allowing these non-acceptable feelings forward, can we take responsibility for having created them at a time somewhere in our past when we felt incapable of dealing with some sort of situation/situations and realising we are no longer that one that felt overwhelmed, helpless, lost, alone, fearful, terrified, incapable, powerless… etc. So these are just children and young girls and boys inside longing for love. No more, no less. And only when we have matured into the adult in charge of our inner world, can these children and young ones come and be taken care of by us, reassured that we will not leave again so they can eventually rest and become unburdened to the point where they finally dissolve and merge into us, no longer separate, no longer needed to remind us of our past incapacities, fears, hatreds and losses.

This is what was happening with Joana and what I remember used to happen with me in the past. I always dreaded great moments, when life feels really good, because I knew that at those times things always turned out to become “bad”, somehow. And this is exactly what happens. When life feels excellent, whatever darkness is lying dormant within us can come forth because we open our hearts and then we can either give in to those dark feelings and identify with them, not knowing what to do and becoming that child or youngster all over again, or we can be thankful that this is coming out of hiding so that we can love it, at long last. Not falling into despair, shame, guilt, anguish, lack of self-worth… such a spiral of emotions these parts carry around with them, such heavy burdens they have held for us until… until we could relieve them of those burdens with a loving smile and say “thank you, thank you so much for what you have done for me.

Because of you I am here now and I can embrace you with no fear of being engulfed by these emotions, for they are no longer present, no longer needed. You are free now. Thank you.”

But Joana kept on getting stuck in these strange emotions, not managing to realize why, and not having anyone to dump it on, because nothing and no one in her present moment was available to get into an argument or to reinforce those emotions in any way, which is what generally happens in family contexts, mainly. Not now. So she kept on running into these stuck and seemingly senseless feelings, not knowing what to do with them, but also incapable of detaching from them enough to not become them.

And I kept on enjoying each experience of this uncharted journey in the lands of Egypt, my heart singing in love with the peace of being Home within, accepting these waves of Joana’s too and very thankful for her company, because despite her feeling extremely strange at times, she kept on saying “yes” and coming along for more beautiful experiences. Maybe after getting back home in Portugal she will be able to digest the whole range of emotions and embrace each of those children within, taking full responsibility for being here on Earth, now, incredibly radiant as she is, loving all of her as she is seeing love all around.

Now I understand why many people insist on staying in permanent “complain, drama, life is so bad” mode. They simply are not at a point where they feel they can face themselves as the adult in charge and take full responsibility for all that has been, is and shall come. And that is perfectly fine.

I also understand why it is hard for most people to spend a lot of time with me. My Presence just scares the living daylights out of themselves! Cause it is the parts of themselves that come forth when they open their hearts in my Presence, that they are really afraid of, not me. And that too is perfectly fine. I will keep on being in the Love I Am, enjoying life with joyous grace and profound gratitude and allowing pure consciousness to be my GPS as I navigate the uncharted territory of being whole.

For I too have my challenges of new, all of a non-dramatic nature, but nevertheless challenges of going deep into the discovery of what has so far been unknown to me, as I have until recent years always lived with the tincture of separation to one degree or another. Living from oneness within, is a whole new adventure and one that I celebrate in each breath. I know the courage, the boldness it has taken me to be at this point of my journey, so I compassionately remain at peace, observing each one’s journey with no need to fix it or change it for them. We are all infinitely wise, even when seeming not to know this.

Well, we get the videos done and go down to La Gourmandise for our last yummy breakfast at the Hilton and then pack up and check out, leaving our bags in the luggage room where we will pick them up later on, before heading directly to the station.

Our first adventure is catching the bus to the Montazah Gardens. We have name right but have no idea where to get off… so we end up going to the end of the line! When we realize this, we have a good hearty laugh at ourselves and take a walk back towards the Montazah Gardens. But it is closed so we get to look in only through the gates, admire the beauty from afar and move on, walking along the Corniche (the enormous avenue beside the waterfront, around 10 miles long) until we can catch a bus heading towards the area where the Royal Jewellery Museum supposedly is.

We get off where it seems to be closer but little do we know we will be walking for the next 45 minutes, asking several people and always being mislead because they too have no clue where it is until just by pure instinct we stumble by the exact place we have been looking for. All along we have felt at ease, enjoying the walk, eventually accepting the fact that we might not find the place, but never feeling tired, lost or anxious. Just being where we are for the sake of being there.

The Museum... at last :)

We have to leave our personal belongings at the entrance, with the guards, but are allowed to take in our mobile to take photos. We are invited to put some plastic bags over our shoes, so as not to ruin the floors inside and then we enter a truly magnificent palace which we are ever so grateful to Mansoura for having recommended.

So far we have not been searching online for which places we should visit, but rather allowing the people that come our way to recommend them to us. We have done so all along our uncharted, unexpected trip here in Egypt and it has been so much fun to not have plans or not search for anything. To just allow everything to come our way. We are absolutely loving it!

In this palace everything is special and extremely beautiful! Even the kitchen and the bathrooms! Everything! We go from room to room with wows and more wows, admiring each space as an integral work of art, no wall, ceiling or floor left unattended by the artist’s genius. Wow!

This visit fills our cells with gratitude, beauty and magic brimming with YES, life is incredibly generous and we feel we ourselves own this palace, the richness of it, for as we have loved it, it has become ours from within. And so it is with all that we love. Such is the gift of endless abundance when the eyes of our Essence can behold all things, all people, all.

Feeling fulfilled beyond measure, we head towards the Alexandria Library. Once we get there we are a little bit tired. Still we find the energy to go in and admire more art, more beauty, more grand creations of superhuman proportions. Wow becomes the motto of the day.

A book seat /seat book

And we finally succumb to tiredness, needing to rest for a while at the Library’s café, where we have a delicious drink and light meal… again filled with wow! My heart could just burst with gratitude, for the size of its love. I cannot accurately describe this feeling - words are not enough, but I am imprinting the feeling here in these lines and the spaces in-between and I know you will be able to feel it.

Eventually it is time to go to the Hotel, which we easily do by bus. We are pros by now! Chuckle chuckle ;)

At the Hotel we grab our bags and call an Uber taxi to take us to the station.

Once we are on the train, not having gotten a first class ticket as advised by Abeer, our dear friend who got us to Siwa and Alexandria in the first place, we find ourselves perfectly comfortable where we are (we wanted to try a different kind of experience beyond the luxury we were in at the Hotel). Well, what do you know? We are even brought food, a lot of food, twice! So our ticket was inclusive of this but we weren’t aware of it so it was a cool surprise to add to all of the other ones experienced today.

The train is pretty fast, up until the moment it comes to a halt. A complete halt which goes on for minutes that turn into 2 hours. Apparently there has been some damage to the line further up ahead, caused by the storm.

Once we are on our way again, there are no more mishaps.

We arrive in Cairo at around midnight and head out towards the taxi quay. On the way loads of young men come and try and lure us to their car, taxi, whatever. But we want to get outside and choose for ourselves.

And you know what? We choose the most shabby looking cab, which seems to be falling apart any minute, so much so that the trunk doesn’t open and the guy has to put the bags up on the roof! And we laugh our heads off because we can! Such a fun experience! We chose him because he wasn’t begging us to take his cab. A simple choice. Though we clearly see the signs of the storm, huge puddles everywhere and some devastation, it is no longer raining. The star studded sky is clear and we are glad to have ridden on the storm rather than in it.

Our driver takes us to our Cleopatra Hotel in Tahrir Square and we thank him. The car was capable, after all.

Phew! We do need a good night’s rest, so it’s a treat to get to our neatly cleaned room where we can each lie on a big bed and fall into the warm lake of sleep.

See you tomorrow!

💙💚💛💜💗

Read the other Chronicles here: