Sunday, October 11, 2009

What a day!

I was at an aromatherapy conference near Birmingham yesterday.
The only outgoing flight that would get us there on time was at 6.30am, which involved a 4.30 start.
Bad enough, but the only flight back was at 23.05pm!
That also was bad enough, but when we got back into Dublin, we couldn't find the car! We spent an hour searching, searching searching. Level 1, 2 and 3. We had to be in Section C because we had booked online. So after an hour, and it was now 1.15am, we called the car park supervisor for help. He assured us that according to their system, our car hadn't left the car park.

At this stage I had visions of thieves putting paper over our number plate, or even fitting a false plate, and leaving the car park.

Mr. Supervisor came down and we began searching. Within 5 minutes, he pointed and said "it's there" matter-of-factly. We had somehow wandered (driving) into section B in the morning! We eventually got home at 2.00am! 22 and a half hours after we had woken up. Lesson learned- always take down the space number when you park. Or don't book flights that leave at 6.30 am!

The conference was brilliant. We met lots of aromatherapists who work in many different situations, from private practice to clinics to teaching universities.

One of the sessions particularly impressed me, and taught me once again just how individual plants are. There were 4 different unidentified oils on the table, and we smelled each one, just registering characteristics and how it made us feel, not looking to name any of the oils. Most of the 12 people around the table agreed on most of the characteristics and effects.

The facilitator then divulged that all 4 oils were Lavender, just grown in different places. One was at high altitude, another near a sea, another at very low altitude, and another in Provence. They were distinctly different, and have different healing properties, even though they all come from the same plant family. Depending on the season, the age of the plant and other influences, the chemical make-up of the oil obtained varies from batch to batch.

I suppose it's similar to people- even though we come from the same "people family", we are different to our siblings, and we have different talents. And we change with the seasons and with our age and our influences.
It's interesting, isn't it?

4 comments:

  1. Losing the car like that is so something I would do - and in fact I have!

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  2. I liked your car-losing story, as that has happened to me, too! Good that my Irish siblings can have the same scatterbrains! Also that aroma lesson was interesting, I hadn`t realized that. Cheers from Germany!

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  3. My daughter *lost* her car once and we were miles from anywhere. Took over an hour of walking to find it!

    Aromatherapy is a fascinating thing to know about.
    Some smells can take you back many years, reminding you of things that went on before you thought you could remember.
    Nuts in May.

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  4. your car story is something that would definitely happen to me! I love early mornings, but it is way too early to remember where one has parked! :) Hope you're getting a laugh out of it all now. :)

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