“Whatever we might think about the future or our status quo, whatever judgments we might maintain about where we are or whatever plans we might have about where we are going, there are exactly two forces out there that can & will completely change everything – kindness & travel (&/or an intentional combination of the […]
I walked thereafter through a long series of unidentified small villages through the stiflingly hot & dusty afternoon; finally coming to the first of many “faux donativo” stands I would encounter over the course of the next few days – stands that purported to be actual donativos (i.e. pure offerings to pilgrims, whereby the traveler […]
After walking into & through the small towns of Ferreiros & Mirallos, and despite my hunger & thirst & fatigue not feeling in any way called to pause there, I soon came upon the waymarker that told me there was only 100km left to go until Santiago. And here I did briefly pause. Yes, 100km […]
And then I came across yet another “faux donativo”, this time one inhabited by an overly gregarious gaggle of Italian pilgrims – pilgrims who were interested in my Walk only as an opportunity for their next selfie; only as yet another story they could tell their friends back home. And yet even though they took […]
And onward I walked into the blazing day, past some scrawled pathside graffiti first stating that “Jesus didn’t start walking in Sarria” and then claiming that “Jesus knows if you take a taxi.”* Funnily enough (I later thought), Jesus actually didn’t “start walking” from anywhere – and he sure as Hell wouldn’t give a damn […]
“And in that space of peaceful serenity, I finally came to understand that Home is wherever our Heart feels truly free; a full & fierce immersion into any Here&Now – an immersion that makes said place fully removed from any physical barriers or mental constraints. Home as such is a space where we feel most […]
I meet with with fellow pilgrims Linda & David a few kilometers outside the city of Portmarin and a very intriguing conversation ensues (mostly engaged by Linda, and mostly listened to by David). It seemed that Linda happened to be a “Zone 2 aficionado” (i.e. any person, sometimes affixed with the “New Age” title, who […]
“Intellect is an essential part of any functional faith. For while the heart provides intuitive direction, it is the intellect that lights the most fluid path thereto. And so it is that we must ever set them both into motion simultaneously, while setting ourselves into motion as well” ~ inspired by Tariq Ramadan “The time […]
It was “only” a supposed 8 kilometers from Portmarin to the village of Gonzar (where I thought I might be able to find refuge for the night), and yet the Camino was having none of the same. Maybe it was the heat and maybe it was the fatigue and maybe it was hope and maybe […]
After the Gonzar “fail”, I wasn’t planning on stopping until the village of Ventas (another 3+ miles), and yet in the little hamlet of Castromaior I came across fellow pilgrim Paul (who I had first met back in Orbigo one week prior) sitting on a the porch of a pathside private hostel. He encouraged me […]
I woke this day quite early (as usual) after an average night’s rest, dressed & packed up quite quietly (also as usual) after a small stint of writing, took another Ibuprofen pill for my hurting back (not so usual) after I found it difficult to stand, and then slowly ambled out into the cool morning […]
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