While there is indeed life’s greatest Meaning to be found in transcending times of pain &/or overcoming moments of discomfort for the sake of others, there is profound Peace to be known as well in being deeply grateful for smiling strangers and paths sloped gently downward … 😉 “Everything you are currently doing is becoming […]
Serendipity — the happenstance of receiving good fortunes unsought or unexpected — is a word (and indeed a principle) I revere quite fondly, and nowhere is it more obviously radiant than when walking a pilgrimage; like finding myself wondering where my “Chaumont saviors” Juergen & Jennifer had spent the previous night and where they might […]
No matter the apparent severity of the obstacle, there is always a way to flow easily around or gently over the same … Acceptance and Courage and Persistence — these are the key … 😉 “I am dust particles in sunlight … I am the round sun. To the bits of dust I say, ‘Stay.’ […]
When I was first thinking about walking HOME from Germany, I had thought I would bring an umbrella along — as much to shield me from the Summer’s blazing sun as from its sporadic storms. And yet, as it turns out, intentionally refusing to do so (in order to give passersby the ever-ready opportunity to […]
“When we are firmly established in nonviolence, all beings nearby cease to feel enmity. When we are firmly established in truthfulness, all actions accomplish their greater ends. When we are firmly established in integrity, our real wealth presents itself freely. When we are firmly established in chastity, our truest potency is generated. And when we […]
“The path to our greatest destination is never straight and rarely apparent. That is why we so often travel down the wrong road, and get lost, and turn back. Of course, if we do so enough we come to one of Life’s most important understandings — namely, the simple Truth that it doesn’t really matter […]
I flow-hobble hungry & thirsty into the village of Le Mollard, where I meet Valerie — a kind & jubilant woman who hears my tale, invites me into her home, showers me with vegan sustenance (including two perfectly ripe kiwis!), and then wishes me well as I head back out onto The Way … 😀 […]
“For me, trees have always been the most penetrating of Truth-tellers. I revere them when they live in tribes and families, in thick forests and gentle groves. And yet even more I revere them when they stand alone – not like reclusive hermits who have stolen away from society out of some fear or weakness, […]
The last stretch of the walk to the town of Chanaz was along a dry, barren path alongside a similarly “dry” and barren canal. The memory of that afternoon’s heat and glare remain with me to this day, a most unpleasant multi-hour trek that was softened only by the kindness of Heike (the woman next […]
I limp into Chanaz proper — a town that turned out to be a high-end haven for relatively well-to-do tourists, and thus a town relatively uninterested in harboring mendicant pilgrims like yours truly. I head directly to the local church for potential assistance and yet both its sanctuary and its parish are already locked up […]
I woke up early this morning and felt fantastic about my decision to flow onward before anyone at the hostel had the chance to “pity offer” me any breakfast sustenance. If Judit had wanted, she could have brought me back a few snacks from her “amazingly inexpensive” grocery run the night before.* If Denise had […]
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