Serendipity ladled my Walk with an additional blessing on this day in the form of Rio, an amazing singer-songwriter and powerful social activist who wasn’t a fellow pilgrim at all (at least not in the traditional sense). It turns out that she had just happened to be visiting here, her favorite hostel from pilgrimages past, […]
Mate – who had surprisingly chosen to shift into a higher gear over the past few days in order to track me down and rejoin me on The Path – walked through the hostel door later that afternoon, and our reunion (which included a relaxing glass of red wine on the roadside veranda of the […]
“There is great truth in the adage that strangers are simply family members that you have yet to come to know. In truth, family is not determined by bloodline or marriage certificates or divorce papers or adoption documents. Families are always made – and ever re-made – in the heart. Indeed, the only time family […]
After dinner, we were all invited to the adjunct church (the same one in which I had peacefully sat earlier that same day) for a pilgrims’ ceremony – a lovely meeting of Souls where all were encouraged to share their stories with one another and honor each other’s choice to live their Love & walk […]
And once again, out of respect for my fellow pilgrims (and wishing that none of them be subjected to my potential to thunderously snore), I found myself waiting patiently until all was quiet to quietly slip into the hostel’s common room alone and make a makeshift and more humble bed for the night … “The […]
And the pilgrims rise as one, and set forth together – albeit staggered – into their shared new day … “The true hero is ever the champion of who he is becoming, not of who he has become – in large part because he sees himself always as the former, and never the latter … […]
“To live well is to learn the world’s language, and by language I don’t mean the prevalent form of communication in one’s home or region. I mean the language of the rocks and the animals and all growing things. I mean the language you don’t hear just with your ears – the language of interconnectedness; […]
A smaller group of us fluidly made it to the town of Redicilla del Camino, where most stopped at a wayside cafe for more typical refreshment, while I entered the nearby church for Refreshment of a different sort … “I believe that the currently known Universe came into being around 14 billion years ago and […]
“The desire to set forth on foot is also a desire to be whole; to walk until you no longer know where you are, and in so doing come to fully understand who you are. Walking a longer route has you inevitably & intimately becoming the single point of intersection for all the lines drawn […]
I had left Redecilla well before any of my compatriots, and had flowed smoothly thereafter at my own unhindered tempo through the villages of Castildelgado, Viloria de Rioja, and Villamayor del Rio, before easily arriving in the larger hamlet of Belorado and its blessedly open Santa Maria church … “I treasure the thick silence of […]
If you choose to stay awake & aware, you will see just as much wonderment and beauty while departing a place or city, as you ever notices when first entering the same … “Let us ever celebrate the joy and the sorrow and the wonder and the mystery of all that we see, so that […]
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