Memories: The quintessence of flow

Memories. My mind is chockafull of memories – some good, some bad, some hilarious, some sad but mostly full of fabulous ones.

One of the more fabulous cluster of memories which resonates strongly with me right now are about a place and person – the two inextricably linked in my mind, despite the memories being spaced a year apart.

Why choose to share this memory, above all others? Well, since attending a retreat two months ago I have been surprised at every turn with “flow”, the concept of ‘letting go and letting God’. I know this is a critical lesson that I must learn, and soon … but in European culture, to be seen to relax and stop the process of yearning for and chasing the elusive Golden Goose, is often viewed an admission of failure, of giving up. Living within a society that is rarely content with our lot, it seems nigh-on impossible to “let go and let God”, whomever your God may be.

In July 2003 we flew off to my idea of a dream holiday: 2 weeks in Egypt on a last-minute deal. Head full of Egyptian mythology, I flew off to the Sinai region with my teen son, intent on relaxing by the Gulf of Aqaba (Red Sea) and maybe finding time for a little bit of an adventure. Flying over the Sinai desert I found myself in tears, my heart singing to itself as if we were coming home …

On this two-week idyllic holiday, we not only discovered our idea of heaven in a small bedouin village and port (Nuweiba) but we braved the obligatory camel ride (terrifying and humiliating, in equal measure), a two-day tour of Cairo on a hair-raising bus trip and an impromptu visit via catamaran ferry to Aqaba, Petra and Wadi Rum in Jordan. That trip in itself is so full of memories, not least because we were left stranded at Nuweiba port on our return – at 1am – with the wrong entry visas, the customs officials determined to send us right back to Jordan! Enough about that, I think!

The overriding memory of Egypt from these two weeks of blissful adventuring was the sense of flow within every Egyptian person we had the pleasure of getting to know: the feeling that there was no need to rush, no need to push yourself, as everything would unfold with divine timing. This feeling left a lasting impact on me, opening my eyes to a different way of living … perhaps a different way of being, if only I could find the time to get into the flow!

July 2004 saw my son and I returning to the Sinai peninsula, this time with my mother in tow and staying at Taba Heights. Disappointed with the lack of the heavenly surroundings of Nuweiba and with choppy seas seeing me almost drowned on our first full day on holiday (thankfully rescued by my mother – of all people! – as she ducked under water and untangled my flippers from the coral), it was still a pleasant place to spend a week of rest and relaxation. On our second evening, my son vanished with his new friends while my mother and I set off to explore our resort. Soon enough, we stumbled across a ‘square’, surrounded by a wide range of shops to suit all purse-strings and interests. As we wandered around, we were invited to part with large amounts of UK Sterling – insincere shopkeepers full of chat, reluctant to admit they had met their match with two cynical, unyielding English women!

By chance, a shop selling an exquisite range of hand-carved wooden objects and custom jewellery caught our eyes. We prepared ourselves to be met with an onslaught of over-attentive behaviour from the young shopkeeper but not at all … we felt very comfortable with him, as he kept his distance and did not over-sell. The ice was well and truly broken as soon as he asked if my eyes were my own (what he wanted to know was: did I wear coloured contact lenses, the answer being No!). After a while of browsing – and learning! – we were invited to share a glass of peppermint tea with him. Of course, dodgy tums being the rule in Egypt, we thought some peppermint tea may pre-empt any nastiness and accepted without too much hesitation, spending a lovely half hour sat in the shade while we shared tales of English versus Egyptian life and having made a new friend.

We were invited by Remon (the young shopkeeper) to come back the following evening for peppermint tea and to have ringside seats for the Egyptian dance show. Strangely enough, neither my mother gave this invitation a moments’ hesitation and graciously we accepted!

What a wonderful find, we said – a cute shop to spend our money on wonderful well-priced wood souvenirs AND a new friend, to boot!

The rest of the week passed with my mother, my son and I spending time with this humble man, sharing more stories and having lots of fun into the bargain. The more we grew to know this gentle soul, the more sure I felt that I had known him in a past life … nothing odd there, I quite often bump into people I just “know”. My son had similarly found a kindred (party) spirit and my mother and I had discovered an entertaining friend who magically kept away the creepy staff from us. Bonus! His total acceptance of life as a whole was a real eye-opener, willingly embracing and grateful for the joys that the Universe threw up to him in desolate, hard living conditions and separated from his family and friends.

The seal of friendship was bonded more tightly after my mother had a fall, damaging her foot. My mother is not at all open to being touched (its all I can do to get her on my couch for a facial!) and yet she willingly allowed Remon to apply mint oil to her foot, skillfully massaged with a natural instinct on where to place the pressure. We later found out that she’d broken a bone in her foot and yet this gentle soul’s touch and innate healing ability had enabled her to continue her holiday without too much pain or swelling. What an inspiration to me … I had already studied Egyptian healing (Reyad Sekh Em) and knew that energy healing was something I had been called to do, yet he did this healing so effortlessly, so unthinkingly, that I was gob-smacked. Who needed rituals, or a set way of doing things? All you needed to do was use your intuition, open yourself to the Divine and just get with the flow.

Darn. That word again. Flow …

It hit me … this gentle soul really did embody the principles of “let go and let God”, the quintessence of flow. Remon’s open heart and mind enabled him to live his life to his full capacity, untamed and untempered by perceptions of those surrounding him. He really did LOVE life, unconditionally. He really did appreciate all that he had and was grateful for the opportunities this life presented him … he had dreams, big dreams of opening his own shop, and was busy squirrelling away whatever he could afford from his monthly pittance of a salary.

He gave his dream and vision a voice and then let it go … rather than spending each day wishing his life away, he threw himself wholeheartedly into each new dawn and embraced the simple pleasures that came his way, in true Egyptian style, with grace, acceptance, compassion and a smile.

We all remember Remon with the greatest of affection and yes, we still hear from him occasionally. He still shines with love and gratitude, always happy to hear from old friends and likes to be kept up-to-date with the family news. For me, those sunshine-filled happy memories of Egypt and Remon are one and the same … as one country and one man, to me, starts each day with the qualities I try to adopt daily in my own life. With peace, with grace and with blessings for each moment … with an open heart, an open mind, an unerring connection to the Universe and and a desire to be all that we can while letting life unfold with its own Divine plan. The quintessence of Flow.

By Callie Carling

(aka Moonpoppy – Twitter)

Holistic Feathers

Don’t forget – for every comment made on this post, $1 will be donated to the charity: water campaign for this blog [campaign page]. Check out our progress and look forward to your contributions too!