A Walk to Remember

Earlier this month, I walked a week on the Camino de Santiago with two good friends and sixteen other people we didn’t know.  For years, I’d heard about the magic of the Camino and wanted to experience it for myself.  Unfortunately, I tend to imagine going on vacations more than I take them so this had every possibility of remaining on my wish list for the rest of time.  Fortunately, one of the two friends that went used her chutzpah to kick me into high gear and before I knew it, I was booking my trip to Portugal.  

If you know anything about the Camino, you know it’s a walk (originally) from France to Spain.  If done in its entirety, it would take about 4-6 weeks to cover all 500 miles.  We walked 50 miles, beginning in Portugal and finishing in Spain.  On the evening of the first day, our group leader asked each of us to say, in one word, why we chose to take this journey.  My word was ‘illumination’.  I chose it because I hoped to come away with clear answers to long held questions about my life path. Sounds like a tall order for a 6 day adventure, but given the Camino’s reputation for inciting transformational experiences, I figured I could dream that big.

No great surprise, illumination showed up more subtly than the lightning bolt I’d imagined.  I’m still carrying the same uncertainties, but finding answers feels less important than learning how to be patient with the questions.  In service of that, I realized the job of walking the Camino is the same for walking through life: keep putting one foot in front of the other, drink enough water, and take-in the view.  Answers will come when we’re ready to receive them.  Until then, as they say on the trail, Bon Camino!

“Keep close to nature’s heart…and break clear away, once in a while
and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. 
Wash your spirit clean” 
(John Muir)