I flowed strong and smoothly this morning along a path that was just as strong and smooth; through the towns of Azofra & Ciruena; sauntering past fellow pilgrims along the path with an ease of smile & gait; slowing down just enough each time thereafter to allow each of them the chance to query me […]
“Yearn not for the easy path, but rather for the right one. For ‘easy’ and ‘right’ are almost never compatible. The moment you choose to boldly begin your truer journey, the entire Universe will begin to revel in your song.” ~ via Craig Lounsbrough & Debasish Mridha “Beyond the hurt, beyond the anger, beyond the […]
What a difference a decade makes! Eleven years ago Santo Domingo was a veritable oasis of peace along my Camino – a rest-stop filled with the friendliness of fellow pilgrims and the sacred gentleness of chanting friars. Today that same locale – for whatever reasons (in all probability a combination of shifts in my own […]
It was only 5 miles further on that I came to the lovely city of Granon. The day’s loose plan was to flow all the way to Tosantos that evening (one of the handful of peaceful stopovers from my 2008 Camino that I definitely wished to revisit), so I had no intention of stopping here […]
Well, as it turns out, the famed Granon donativo hostel (about which I had already so many wondrous things) was quite literally connected to the same church in which I had paused, and its humble, back-courtyard entrance was smoothly stumbled upon the moment I exited the same. Not ever one to thumb my nose at […]
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 … […]
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