In pilgrimage (as in Life, and as in Love) it is considered prudent and even proper to prepare for the unexpected; to carry along items (or, in Life & Love, possessions &/or backup plans) “just in case” anything goes wrong. And even though I had intentionally organized my own Walk to be a radically minimalist one (carrying no money, no tent, no sleeping bag, no raingear, and no personal ID) I too had up until this day chosen to carry a few items designed to assist my progress “just in case” — a single “super-painkiller” left over from my kidney stone adventure, a small container of baby powder, a small tube of hydrocortisone cream, some Q-tips, a few wet wipes, a tube of muscle-pain salve, and a jar of vegan foot cream. Well, after resting for 20 straight hours in my lovely Mariastein monastic hideaway and noticing only a slight improvement in my still painful shin splint and my still swollen & unusually discolored ankles, I decided that “just in case” wasn’t what this Journey was about. I decided that true leaps of faith must be made truly Faith-fully, and so I decided to set forth once again on The Way — this time leaving all my “just in case” backups behind … 🙂

“I would rather be a flower which blooms to full glory and swiftly dies, than live as a tree that never blossoms throughout its longer years … I would rather be a spark that burns in a brilliant blaze but for an instant, than be a longer-lasting yet lowered light which cannot illuminate another’s path … I would rather be a streaking meteor which inscribes the heavens with a magnificent flash, than dully exist as a sleepy yet far more permanent planet … I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them, my friends. Indeed, I shall wake up each day determined to fully use the time — however brief — I have been given. For I have been born to dramatically Live, not merely to methodically exist.” ~ inspired by Tayiba Iram

Filed under: Peace Pilgrimage #02: Walking HOME (2019) by Scaughdt