It was simultaneously odd and exciting to part ways with the next-to-last last vestiges of my French Camino compatriots – bidding farewell the night before to Thierry & Celine (first met in Pimbo) and adieu to Jean-Marc this morning after breakfast (his last pilgrimage leg was going to be walking back over the Pyrenees today; […]
And no sooner did I part with friends older than I met friends anew – this time Mack & Jill from Colorado. I only spoke with them but for a few minutes of shared walking, and yet we bonded deeply in those priceless moments of sharing, and there was no doubt that we all three […]
“It is inherently true that everyone has their own unique path through Life. Some of these paths seem simple and direct, while others follow a route more circuitous & convoluted – some are walked through the business of throngs & crowds, while others are walked with almost no human company whatsoever. And yet once we […]
Whenever I am walking a pilgrimage – kind of like whenever I am walking through life itself – I try to “read” new situations before choosing to immerse myself in them. Most of the time it is obviously Right Action to engage the others we encounter, of course, and yet sometimes the “vibe” is strongly […]
“When we cannot tolerate the dark, we activate all kinds of artificial lights, including but not limited to sports, drugs, alcohol, shopping, shallow sex, &/or hours in front of the television set or a computer our phones. Greenspan one correctly noted that there are no dark emotions – just unskillful ways of coping with feelings […]
Stephane and I had agreed to accompany one another on his pilgrimage’s final 12 km (I was in truth deeply honored that he asked me to do so), and it didn’t take long for the Camino to provide us with our first “magical” encounter – this time with these two lovely ladies from Spain; two […]
The conversation with Stephane proved to be as scintillating and as inspirational on our last day together as it had been during our first, and we bliss-fully shared those last miles of togetherness – sometimes giving each other space for solitude, and other times immersing each other in thoughts deeper & encouraging* … “I hold […]
One of the more subtle Joys of any pilgrimage was the regular opportunities it provided to see the “unusual” or the “stunning” or the “miraculous” or the “mystical” and then honor the same – sometimes with special stones placed reverently nearby, always with an effusion of almost-shocking wonderment at the enormous beauty of it all, […]
“The paths in front of us are sometimes seemingly singular and sometimes so numerous that it’s almost impossible to choose the proper one. And yet whenever the latter multiplicity rears itself before us, we can rather smoothly solve its challenge by remembering that it’s not the paths in front of us that matter. Rather, it’s […]
And so it was that Stephane & I finally arrived at the town of Zubiri, where Stephane treated me to a meal of my four favorite pilgrimage foods (fresh bread, bananas, dark/vegan chocolate, and coffee) and then bid me a truly heartfelt farewell as he checked into his pilgrimage’s final hostel (which happened to be […]
“The future is not some place we are searching for or going towards, but rather a state of being we are ever building and re-creating. The paths to our lives’ unique horizons are never found or happened upon – they are made … And realizing this, it is critical to remember that not all Right […]
;
