(photo P Volker)
Oh, how I remember my reentry from the Camino in 2014, years ago now but vivid like yesterday. And now I have reentry from reading a pilgrimage book. I guess I was really there “walking”.
Catalina my friend and art historian read all the way through my years of blog posts reported reentry symptoms on finishing. Same sort of deal where a description of an activity has the power to carry the reader away to that somewhere else place. I knew very little about this thousand mile trail from Canterbury to Rome beforehand and now I practically have the blisters.
In the acknowledgements of A Pilgrimage to Eternity the author gave kudos to two folks that helped out on the editing process that I know from St. John Vianney’s. I was so amazed by that striking so close to home. My friends John and Karen fired back an email answering mine that they had a modest role, well of course.
John in his email wrote, ”We thought he did a fine job of blending together a pilgrimage, a personal story and a faith odyssey.” He did indeed, that you could say with assurance. I for one was totally mesmerized by the whole deal.
If I could springboard on that, for my blog post’s benefit I would say that closely resembles my personal experience with my Camino. Things internal and external, old and new, earthly and heavenly seem to intertwine so tightly that they became my new self. Does that make some sense? Things intertwine on pilgrimage, that’s what they do. It all becomes very personal in the end. Just a thought from Felipé.
OK, thinking of you. Cris says that we are halfway to August and the 2020 Veranda gathering. I will trust her calculations.
Springboard loves, Felipé.
Phil,
Okay, that does it. Tim Egan is coming to our Verandah. Not only my cousin contact, but now two friends at St. John’s. We’re in. And, I boldly write it down to make it happen: I want Tim Egan to endorse my new book. Of course he will!
I put a copy of his Pilgrimage book on hold. I am #113 in line, with 34 copies available in the library system. Those are the kind of numbers I dream of!
Keep it green,
Henriette Anne
Henriette ~ good luck to us! Felipé.x
Dear Phil,
I am re-reading this post now, with a bit more attention, as to be honest, Wednesday was super crazy (to regular work, to work on measures around the Coronavirus, my bathroom ceiling fell down due to a leak from my upstair neighbours’s sink…)…
So I read the post again now, Friday 7 in the morning, with my mate, and before turning on my work computer, and I realized of something that I had not before: Therapist and particularly neuroscientists, say that the key to mental health is “Integration”, which somehow takes away the concept of “overcoming” situations or “fixing” what is wrong in our lives, but rather getting to know them (not even understand them, as somehow, some cannot be understood), making them a space in our lives, and complete the puzzle a bit more.
And I realized by reading you, and somehow by thinking on my own Camino(s), that that is what happened to us while walking: we integrated, which is the ultimate sign of mental health. And it happened in approx 30 days when one can spend years in therapy! And I guess the secret is that the Camino gives the time and the ground and the space and a place to head to and the best therapists 24 hours available… That is why a good book on any pilgrimage seems to be a great story… we all love to read how people’s life enriches!
Oh… missing those days Love,
Cris
Wow Cris ~ tremendous comment here. I THINK THAT WE ARE ON TO SOMETHING. I will try and get that up on the blog soon. Today is Valentine’s Day so I wanted to do something about that. And Happy Valentines to you there! Felipé.x