“There are beautiful places literally everywhere; we simply have to travel with a beautiful Heart.” ~ Bhuwan Thapaliya “The wandering essayist Jacques Reda reminds himself before he leaves his apartment every Sunday morning to see at least one new thing with every long stroll . In this way, he has learned to more fluidly notice what […]
I passed through several small, still-sleepy hamlets before rounding a gentle bend and coming upon Isabel’s lovely little coffee stop. I was fully enamored by the warmth emanating from the same and walked quietly into its snuggly courtyard, intending only to snap a few photos and be on my peaceful way. And yet Isabel saw […]
“One fine day, it will be your turn as well. You will leave your homes, your cities and maybe even your countries to pursue grander ambitions. You will leave behind friends and come to remember that there lives a Soulmate in every stranger. You will leave behind lovers and remember how to Love. You will […]
For all their reputation as being rage-filled, territory-harboring, limp-souled lunatics, I personally had mostly positive encounters with the dogs I encountered along the Camino – with this day’s canine meetup being one that was especially sweet … “Faithful and loyal and true, you share in our sorrows and rejoice with us in our triumphs, the […]
“Be it on the pilgrimage side or the courtyard side of life, we all have the potential to rise up against the dictatorship of our childhood-chosen destinies, the potential to become rebels with a greater cause, the potential to alter the course of our existence. In truth, life deliberately means ‘choice’ and in kind life […]
I eventually make into the city of Sarria thereafter, and was originally intending to throw my bag over my other shoulder, pause briefly for a drink of water, and then flow onward. And yet as was so often the case on the Camino (and as is so often the case in Life), the “will” of […]
Segue #03 on my serendipitous stretch through Sarria had me stopping by the pathside Iglesia del Salvador, a truly glowing sanctuary where Love itself seemed to be flowing from the walls and harmony itself seemed to be falling gently from its ceilings. True to form, the hospitalera on call there was as effusive in her […]
I walked onward thereafter with Soul fully aglow and almost intermediately met a sweet elderly man by the wayside who was asking for food. I paused without hesitation, gave him the rice cakes & avocado that Beatrice had given me only a few minutes before, and wished him the very best of days. Somehow he […]
“Seek to Love more than to be loved, to appreciate more than to describe, to Serve more than to be served. Seek tasks more than jobs, recipients more than friendships, and pilgrimages more than pathways. And as you live, if you should find more opportunities to love in movement, do not stop moving. And if […]
Soon thereafter I made it to the small village of Barbadelo, where the entire vibe of the Way dramatically & palpably shifts. It seems that this town marks the “official” 100km cut-off of the Camino de Santiago – the minimum distance that a pilgrim must walk to be officially recognized as such by the Roman […]
I then came up upon Sebastian & Melanie, and amicably walked with them for quite awhile thereafter – chatting quite joyfully with them about Levity & Life & Love while I did so – until it then became clear that our tempos were diverging, and we parted ways just as lovingly, with we all giving […]
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