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Nov 13
in To Morocco 2013

From poverty to palaces….

Rose water, rice in sweet honeyed milk, soft white custard with almonds, plump dried apricots and prunes in subtle spices echoing the melodies of far away places where date palms surround green and where white fabric blows in the desert wind…..thoughts of coming days as I ate my beautiful breakfast,

I am sitting now at a winery at Had Badchoua waiting for lunch after being escorted by the local police for 20km from Casablanca and 130 km east toward Meknes. Cheers lined the streets and men in dark blue stiff suits and official caps with red rims, blew their whistles and waved us through the intersections whilst local traffic built up flanking our cavalcade. Spirits were high and the locals didn’t seem to mind the inconvenience as they smiled and waved to us with such excitement.

Children in groups according to their size scrambled following balls across dusty field with thin tree trunks as goal posts. Washing hung from crumbling buildings like post it notes on a corporate bulletin board – yet here life was as far removed from those bulletin boards as I have ever seen.

Donkeys pulling carts filled with manure shovelled from night holding pens, skirted the highway. Women wearing coloured fabric speckled the fields as their children ran to the roads to wave to sights they had never witnessed before passing through their lives.

Structures appeared from beyond the rocky hills with red flags welcoming modern visitors from the past. Smiles beamed from oval faces wrapped in brightly coloured fabrics, aqua blue, pink and red patterns; as children were suspended in this cloth on backs walking the streets with arms laden with goods to sell on a patch of dirt alongside the highway.

The busy streets soon transformed into rolling dry hills with clumps of green trees – olives and gnarled trees which demonstrate resilience in such a dry and harsh landscape; and just as suddenly as Penny weaved her way through fascinating geology…we were once again upon communities where people here were also showing their resilience in this incredibly difficult and extreme environment.

I felt voyeuristic in a sense, so I didn’t take photographs of these areas where whole animals without their skin hung with the flies outside small dark alcoves; which were shops, and in front sieving the smoke puffing out from underneath grills of reinforcing mesh were a couple of tables and old chairs;…or where people stood selling single cigarettes…or where women squatted with loose fabric draped over their bones forming the shape of their frail bodies.

Yet as Penny carried us through this area of gut wrenching poverty, we still received heartfelt cheers and waves and such generosity of spirit filled the dusty fetid air. I often could not swallow my tears as so many smiled and put their left hand on their chest in a few repeated movements as a gesture toward us…of welcome and of connection. I acknowledge that many are hoping foreigners bring money into their struggling communities…but so many want nothing more than a connection through their eyes…and rather than feeling sorry for those whose living conditions I just cannot truly comprehend, I endeavored to celebrate the privilege of travelling in this amazing country and being so graciously welcomed to drive through their lives, by waving and genuinely connecting with their eyes and hearts.

As the darkness crept in from the east, Penny was surrounded by head lights and tail lights in a tunnel with horns honking from in front and behind. It was peak hour in Metnes and with only one lane as an entrance and exit to our accommodation there was a traffic jam of expanding proportions. Attendants wearing lime green safety vests swarmed on the road trying to direct traffic to create space for cars to maneuver..and finally the 20 vintage cars were nestled in a small enclosed square outside the most exquisite little hotel Palace Didi; a small palace which was built in the 16th century… with rose petals floating in a fountain ….and mosaic tiles paving the courtyard….silverware on white linen tables.. and coloured diamond shaped tiles which circled upward in a spiralling staircase to our room which was so far from the world in which we had driven through the day…it was not only surreal..but quite overwhelming.

Internet is sparse here so I will upload images when we have better internet.

 

 

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About the Author: Julie
I am a Journeywoman. I live my life as an explorer. An adventurer. An Observer. An Artist. There is no differentiation between how I live my life and the art that is an expression of it. It is through my experience adventuring the unknown, that I learn more about myself. My aim through this connection is to live where my expression is fully in alignment with the essence of who I am. “In the field of Fine-Art Photography, Julie stands apart from others with the way she sees the world and expresses her connection within it. Julie Stephenson’s photographs are sublime. Her work is an expression of her deep connection; and a gift to the world.”

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skeinydipping

I looked down and saw my hands. Hands which have t I looked down and saw my hands. Hands which have touched; have loved; have created; have worked; have nurtured. My hands.   

I looked down and saw on my wrist and fingers items from around the world which have so many stories; items which have all been created from the heart and made by the hands of others. 

I looked down and saw beautiful yarn. Yarn which has been handled carefully through shearing, dyeing, skeining, balling; and now being knit in my beautiful hands. 

My hands are one of my gifts. This year I’ve really missed the touch of another with my hands, to feel the heart of another through my fingertips; but so grateful and love my hands which touch and feel; work and play!

What do you see when you look at your hands?

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Knitting a fabulous  #slipstravaganzamkal by @westknits .
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#gratitudeattitude #westknitsarethebestknits #westknitsmkal2020 #knittersofinstagram #knittersoftheworld #knittersofaustralia #indiedyedyarn #handmadewithlove #handmade #handmadejewellery #fromtheheart #createeveryday #livetotravel #healing #healinghands #creativehands
My life is wonderful… and I have so many stories My life is wonderful… and I have so many stories. I’ve had adventures on all continents. Slept being rocked by the sea; felt the ice on my skin in both polar regions, and felt the silence of the deserts. I’ve walked stone steps in monasteries at altitudes where each step I’ve taken consciously and mindfully; focussing on treasuring every molecule of oxygen in the rarefied atmosphere. 

COVID has paused those adventures, but I draw upon my experiences as I navigate adventuring my days in a different way, on our ‘home range’. 

I recall my steps in Tibet as I walk through our bushland. I am mindful and conscious of my surroundings. I listen. I feel. I feel happy here. I am content.

My new stories may not hold the same experiences of connection with others; and may not be of extreme challenges or crazy things  (which I am rather prone to doing! 🙂 ) but they are not less wondrous… as I smell the warm eucalyptus waft from under my feet. 

I weave my stories, and this story is of my personal journey on my daily walk through our bushland. 
You can see some of my other woven stories on my website - link in profile. 

How do you express your life’s stories?
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#weaversofinstagram #indiedyedyarn #indiedyed #rigidheddleloomweaving #ashford #inspiredbynature #contentcreator #emotionalbalance #homedeco #handcrafted #makersmovement #creativelifehappylife #wellbeing #travellerlife #journeywoman #weavingaustralia
“....The Assookinakii cowl was created for those “....The Assookinakii cowl was created for those times in your life when you need a meditative and healing knit. Assookinakii (ass-s-oo-kin-uh-k-EE) means ‘healer’ in the Blackfeet language, thank you to Cut Woods School in Browning, MT for the tradish language support”. –  Candice from @thefarmersdaughterfibers 

Knitting this beautiful cowl by Candice from @thefarmersdaughterfibers for @sistersunitedmt ; WAS healing. 

As my hands gently formed the repetitive stitches I reflected on the word ‘Assookinakii ‘ - healer. I am a healer. I don’t understand it. It’s something unseen. Something within me which has been recognised by Ngangkari and ‘clever men’ here in Australia; and shaman and healers around the world as we travel. This recognition always has caught me by surprise; as I seem to walk a line between two worlds. 

As the stitches slipped from one needle to another and the beautiful colours of @spincycle_yarns revealed themselves; in the pauses between the stitches I heard a voice whispering to continue to seek connection with the natural world and listen deeply. 

What has been healing for you this year?
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#healingjourney #meditationpractice #dyedinthewool #assookinakii_cowl #knittersofinstagram #knittingaddict #livinglifetothefullest #happydays #shaman #healer #healersofinstagram #listentoyourheart #indiedyedyarn #handmadewithlove #knittersgonnaknit #knittersoftheworld
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2017 All photographs created by and property of Julie Stephenson.