After I blogged about the movie, "The Way," I received the nicest email from a man in Michigan. He wanted me to know his story and part of his journey. He and his wife are planning and training to walk El Camino next year. He gave me permission to share parts of his letter anonymously with my readers as a way to further educate people about "the walk." Below are the sections I decided to share because of the resources he mentions.
Thank you for letting me share parts of the letter. He and I will continue to talk about this because of my interest and I want to hear more about the journey.
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El Camino de Santiago has become a part of our lives. We talk about it constantly. We are brushing up on our Spanish. We have built the next 16 months of our lives around it. Our library has a section dedicated to it as does our clothes closet, our shoe rack, and our computer files. We have both used variations of El Camino de Santiago or The Way as passwords. We have even caught our kids referring to coming events and future plans as being before the Camino or after the Camino.
Shortly after we declared our intentions to our children, our son gifted us with A Pilgram's Guide to the Camino de Santiago by John Brierley (the one you mentioned) and his wife gave us Rick Steves’ Spain by, of course, Rick Steves, the guy who got the whole thing started.
I have read several from my list. To date, my favorites have been I’m Off Then: Losing and Finding Myself on the Camino de Santiago by Hape Kerkeling, Fumbling: A Pilgrimage Tale of Love, Grief, and Spiritual Renewal on the Camino de Santiago by Kerry Egan, and The Way is Made by Walking: A Pilgrimage Along the Camino de Santiago by Paul Boers. I have quoted from Fumbling more than any other in my journal. (Kerry Egan has a Kathleen Norris/Anne Lamott quality to her writing.)
This is a poem from my journal that I am sharing.
Pilgrim By Enya
Pilgrim, how you journey
On the road you chose
To find out why the winds die
And where the stories go.
All days come from one day
That much you must know,
You cannot change what's over
But only where you go.
One way leads to diamonds,
One way leads to gold,
Another leads you only
To everything you're told.
In your heart you wonder
Which of these is true;
The road that leads to nowhere,
The road that leads to you.
Will you find the answer
In all you say and do?
Will you find the answer
In you?
Each heart is a pilgrim,
Each one wants to know
The reason why the winds die
And where the stories go.
Pilgrim, in your journey
You may travel far,
For pilgrim it's a long way
To find out who you are...
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Walking El Camino de Santiago is on my bucket list.
What about you? Does this interest you?
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