
From Lucia, saw it on Face Book.
I can’t tell you how happy I am for getting through the night so easily. Last chemo cycle I had a very hard time, the worst that I ever had, but this time I was passed over. So the morning looks more beautiful. We are getting a grip on the side effects of the new chemical treatment and that is very heartening. I want to talk about that soon since I want to thank some folks for helping me.
You will remember that several days ago we were posed with the question, “What have you figured out?” In other words, have we come to any realizations or conclusions about the work that we have been doing here at Phil’s Camino and Caminoheads blog. Has there been any product produced or treasure uncovered? Buenos Aires Cris came in with a comment yesterday that is relevant and extremely penetrating. It my seem highly personal which maybe all good things are. Thanks Cris:
Hola Felipe
What a great straightforward post! What have we figured out?… That is a great question, and if I speak for myself, being part of this “salon” in the French sense of the word :D, I think for me, it has been a lot. It brought me back to the post I wrote one year after I walked the 2 weeks, back in 2011. But “this conversation” we are having here, deepens day after day, my own humanity. I am learning how to be human, by coming by and read the posts and the comments of my fellow pilgrims. And I am totally honest when saying this.
Probably, there are 3 big things that I “figured out” with you all here:
1) “Once you are a Pilgrim, you are forever a Pilgrim”. There are certainly other things that may change as we walk, but if we walk as we learned in the Camino, we may be at times lost, but most likely we will continue to be pilgrims. Being a Pilgrim is a blessed difficult to forget or dismiss.
2) “The fellow pilgrims are a treasure”. You become part of a Family; the “Family of Pilgrims”, because you shared the pilgrimage. And the secret is in the word “share”, and it is difficult to “dismiss” that part of the sharing thing… First you share the path, the albergue, the showers, then you start sharing the food, the “pilgrim’s gadgets” such as the poles, or the guide; after a bit, the conversation, the ear, the words, soon it become the heart and the soul, and prayers, and thoughts, follow too, and I can continue. Fellow pilgrims have shared their homes and families with me, and I have had the fortune to do the same; just as an example that the treasure is not exhausted or confined to the Camino, it rather starts there.
3) “No matter what or how, we are all connected”. I think about you and I: your cancer, the Avastin, my work, Genentech; your admiration and interest in Pope Francis, me being from Argentina; the purpose of my trip to Ireland, and its connection to Catherine and Dana; and we could continue with “facts”. But I think we also figured out that “feelings” and “words” connect us… I am thinking when we talked about “Beauty”, or “Goodness”, or “Presence”… or when we feel we learn from each other… and mainly when we actively feel we CARE for each other.
I, myself, figured out quite a few things in this “salon”, this is why I am grateful to you and to all of you, for teaching me and helping me to be more human.
Hope I did not miss the point here!
Understanding love,
Cris
Wow, as in wow! I am so grateful for that kind of insight and the work it took to craft that so beautifully. You are so appreciated Cris.
Well, time for me to go. My Rebecca is making her world famous mac and cheese tonight for the family. Have to finish up my tax prep. A February day here. Love, Felipe.