Lost and Found

We have now been 5 days on foot, and over these many miles we have all had time to reflect and get lost in thought, which I find to be a great gift! While at home my mind is seemingly always preoccupied with so many things, here my body is preoccupied, and my mind is completely open. For the first time I can remember, I can only concentrate on the present, and am not planning the next day, or the next week, etc. The twelve of us have lost many things along the way, some purposefully, others unintentionally. Clothing, personal items deemed too heavy or trivial to carry, shells, among other items. We have also lost our fear and anxiety over the physical and personal aspects of this journey. Some of us have lost sleep, and others our sense of time. What have we found? Strength, determination, and courage to continue. Creative ways to tolerate our pain, and accept help when needed. We have found our way, thanks to the many yellow painted arrows on trees, fence posts, buildings, ground. We have found profound admiration for the world in which we live; amazement in the diversity of not just the flora and fauna and animals we pass by each day, but for the people who have traveled here from all over the world sharing our journey, enhancing our journey. Perhaps most importantly, we have found appreciation for our companions: new friends, old friends. Once strangers, we are forever bonded by our experiences and our deep compassion and understanding for one another.

The following are not my original thoughts, but of those who have traveled this road before us.

¨The difference between a pilgrim and a tourist is the intention of attention, the quality of the curiosity.¨
¨In sacred travel, every experience is uncanny. No encounter is without meaning. There are signs everywhere, if only we learn how to read them.¨

Two more days to Compostella! Buen Camino!!!!