“Peace is life, and Love is life. No river holds a grudge against the stone in its path. No leaf refuses to blow in the breeze. No patch of moss denies water or sunshine. Yes, it is true that we human beings have the gift of self-awareness, and yet this gift quickly turns to self-destruction […]
“In walking deep into Nature; far from the clutches of tradition or efficiency or metropolitan success – just as in Loving another deeply; out of reach of the graspings of vow or hope or expectations of fair recompense, we reawaken the greatest human condition; finally re-embodying once more humankind’s innate sense of Oneness – and […]
And then it was that I rose up and over the next horizon’s crest and saw the city of Cajarc below me; a city that proved not to be a place of pause for my Walk, and yet a city that did offer a number of wonderful interactions with equally wonderful Souls … 🙂 “Where […]
This wonderful cave-set camping spot had been established just off the path that led down into town, and adorned not only with the standard pilgrim accouterments of ledge-beds and fire-pits, but also sculptures of announced presence and honored intention from pilgrim-residents past … 🙂 “Home has been idealized by many as a refuge from the […]
The town of Cajarc proper was not the most welcoming place when I arrived on this day – possibly because the town seemed to be mostly deserted; with very few residents out and about and very few pilgrims visible at all (and this, despite a plethora of pilgrim hostels quite obviously on hand). And it […]
“To swim far, become one with the sea. To walk well, become one with the road. Integrate with the entirety of your surroundings. See it all not as a collection of separate entities, but rather as an interconnected Whole – a fluid continuation of your own True Self.” ~ via Mehmet Ildan
After Cajarc made it clear that I was not to stop there for the night, Gaillac was the next town along The Way. And yet even though its hilltop vibe from afar was a pleasing one, its residents made it quite clear from the outset that pilgrims – at least mendicant pilgrims like yours truly […]
I departed the odd-but-still-lovely church and walked on a few hundred yards or so into Gaillac proper, where I right away saw a very elderly woman pruning some very beautiful flowers in front of a very beautiful cottage. In my sufficient-but-still-extremely-broken French I complimented her obvious gardening prowess, and she proceeded to ask me where […]
The next village (Saint Jean du Laur) was supposedly just another 5 kilometers (roughly 3 miles) up ahead, and so I didn’t think much of it as I gladly left Gaillac behind. And yet – as was so often the case on the Camino – this promised distance was not much more than a wispy […]
And so it was that the day grew longer and the daylight ever shorter … And so it was that my legs began to drag along the path and my shoulders began to droop in their sockets and I started looking for anyplace – truly anyplace – where I thought I might be able to […]
There is not much better than setting forth anew into an early, peaceful morning … 😉 “When you arise in the morning, remember what a precious privilege it is to be alive — a privilege not only to breathe and think and enjoy and know love, but also, far more importantly, a privilege to be […]
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