This post is an exception to the rule. We had TGIF and now we have TGIS, Thank God It’s Saturday. It just so happens that two of my three Aussie Angels have shown up with material and you need to have it sooner than later. So, that is what this is about today.

Angela was with us for a few days before Leon in August in the heat and dust of the Camino Frances. Her post today is very soulful and I thank her immensely for coming forward and giving us this glimpse of her inner Camino. We all saw her outer Camino which was marked with the pain of tendinitis, which is a biggie. I didn’t have this challenge and it puts people “out of the race”. But Angela found her inner Rambo and, well she can tell you herself:

Hi Phil,

hope you are well mr!! and i would ask you if youre feeling better but i already know you are 🙂

Ok so my thoughts..Im sorry.. there is no way it can be 500 or less ahahah :

I have always told myself that I was not a good writer. When you asked me to write a few words, I slightly panicked haha thinking I had to come up with something amazing, something funny and great and this is not me. But that thought is long gone 🙂 This has always been me. Always doubting myself. Always thinking that I wasn’t enough. But the camino has definitely help change me. And I realise now that I am enough!

I can honestly say that I struggled after the camino finished. I missed the walking. The pain. The friends/family I met and made. I missed life on the camino. I really did learn a lot about myself from this crazy walk. Coming back to my life in Sydney you could probably say I was depressed. 6 months of amazing travels, an incredible experience on the camino.. now life.

It took me a good 2 months or so till I was all good again. After the feeling sorry for myself stage, I was telling myself (talking to myself like a crazy person) that it was enough. The feeling sorry for myself stage is done. I was disappointed in myself because it was as though everything I learnt about myself on the camino, everything I had gained on the camino, had gone. But I can strongly say it hasn’t. Felipe.. I am back 🙂 and my thirst for life is GINORMOUS! It took some time.. but I am definitely back. I have started to bring back into my life the way I was on the camino.. my strength.. knowing that I struggled, walking crazy amounts of km’s everyday and I accomplished it. If I can do that, I can do anything. I have pushed aside my negativity, my doubts and I have adopted a more positive way of thinking. The laws of attraction. Thinking positive and attracting positive. Which has been very foreign to me for most my life. And you know what.. 2015 has been bloody brilliant so far and I truly believe this is going to be a great year.

I finally started to look for a job 2-3 weeks ago and I went to the interviews with a different attitude to usual. I would have conversations with my father in my head before my interviews, as well as talking to God and I would tell myself that I have got this. I could feel that my dad was with me the whole time, I felt strangely calm. And the first 2 interviews went so well and even if I didn’t get the jobs, I was actually happy that it was a good experience for me. I wasn’t hard on myself. I was just appreciative of the experience and what I was getting out of practicing interviews, and it just meant that something else was waiting for me. 3 interviews later, I now have a job who is paying me what I am worth. And believe me, I settled for a lot less for almost 10 years. I walked in not settling for anything less than what I felt I deserved. I can honestly say Felipe, for the first time, I love my life. I am so thankful for the camino and what it has taught me. I am so grateful for all the connections I have in my life. I feel so blessed.

I’m nervous and excited with life. But for once, I am looking forward and am totally ready for whatever is coming my way.

MUCH LOVE TO YOU FELIPE! Sending you a trillion massive bear hugs!

Ange

I’ve hopped over to Indonesia for the sun, surf and easy going island life. I spent the first week in a place called Kuta, Lombok. I slept in these gorgeous rustic bamboo bungalows. I rented a scooter for the week and rode out in search of the best beaches and breathtaking views of which there was an abundance. I learnt to surf, stood up and rode many waves. I caught a boat out to the perfect surf spot where the rush of riding a long wave was like no other experience ever. To feel at one with the ocean and to be carried away with it is a wonderful natural high.

The last week I’ve been on a wee island called Gili Trawangan. Every day I walk or half jog around the island, some 5 miles in radius. I’ve treated myself to a fancy resort with all the trimmings including pool, mini bar and overly attentive staff who smile and laugh and truly love their job. The food is so good too that I can hardly bring myself to eat elsewhere. The island held a full moon beach party on Tuesday night, I couldn’t resist. Fireworks, fire twirling, clear sky full of stars and blazing full moon. I joined the hundreds of locals and tourists dancing to anthems old and new till nearly 5am.

It all feels like the perfect finish to a year of everything. I’ve been attending a meditation workshop which perfectly partners my mood and my new found philosophy of living in the now. I think I’ve held this belief for years, but only now have I truly understood what it means and how to live it. It is such a freeing feeling being present and aware. I truly am living the dream. Love to you all.

When you come here, whether you are an old regular or someone new, you are all welcome and look we are just sitting down to tapas and wine together. So come, make yourself comfortable and partake with us. We are definitely in this together so we will celebrate that.

Today, I have to tell you about three men that have touched me in the last twenty four hours since I saw you. They are Chris, Dion and James. I’m working off of the song Abraham, Martin and John which Dion wrote way back when and we have all heard. I am so lucky to have people as these hovering over me.

First Chris, who lives here on the Island and close by too. He is with me at the American Legion which we have been doing for years. He is a vet of the shooting war in Vietnam. He has published a book of his memories complete with old letters and his own photos. Well, he was here yesterday to walk with me and we were gabbing away about various things but this blog came up and I was saying that I had hoped to bring out all my 300 and some posts in a paper form.
My image of it was a basically a pile of computer copies. And he made an offer to volunteer to put it in a book form for me. Like a real book with color prints in it and bound up and ready to go for anyone to buy and read. Amazing, and I took him up on it. Thank you Chris.

Next is Dion, who is the old Rock and Roller from long ago. We all have heard his songs, Ruby Ruby, The Wanderer, Run Around Sue and more. Anyway, that was Dion way back when he was with the Big Bopper, Richie Valens and Buddy Holley but stayed on the bus and didn’t take the plane that crashed and killed all onboard. He was spared and went on to more creative endeavors and years of drinking and drugging and then finally sobriety and a spiritual journey. There is an hour long TV interview with him describing it all and I wound up watching it twice last night. Very revealing and inspirational moments are included. If you come up with the time you can view it at:

Thank you Dion.

Then finally Jim, who is my oldest friend in the world. We grew up together in Buffalo, New York, the land of snow, sour kraut and Polish sausage. Our mothers were friends first and then our fathers became friends. Like little aposteles we were James and Philip as kids. Long names weren’t cool back then and we eventually caught on and independently changed them to Jim and Phil, it was a World War II thing I think. The GI was Joe and not Joseph, no one had time for that while being shot at. Anyway, now we are both on the brink of retirement and have cancer hobbies and we call each other up and work on coming to grips with this new life. He left me with this quote from Gandhi, “Live as if you were going to die tomorrow and learn as if you were going to live a thousand years.” Thank you Jim.

So that’s today, well almost as I wanted to tell you that I spied another sign of spring which was our climbing rose on the house is sprouting leaves definitely. Maybe I could climb up there myself and grab a pic for you. OK, so glad that you could make it for tapas. It wouldn’t be the same without you all. Little leafy loves, Felipe.

More little yellow flowers appear around our feet. Be careful not to step on them. Buen Camino, little yellow flower loves, Felipe.

Yes, a crocus is blooming in the yard. A poet should be right on top of that. I just took a pic and I’m calling it good although I really really appreciate the little guy.

I had coffee with my old buddy Bill this late morning. We hadn’t had a chance to catch up since before Spain. He said that he really wanted to hear about it and I said great because I am running out of folks who want to listen. So, that went great. And that remainds me to tell you that I have a radio interview coming up on Northwest Catholic Radio. I don’t know exactly when it will air but that is in the works. It is a companion piece to their magazine story. So I guess I will have plenty of people to listen then.

Last night I got listening to music by the Gotan Project. Very interesting stuff to come across. Does anyone know about this group? Give me a comment if you do.

OK, my big news is the crocus blooming and what could be better really. I need to get my behind in gear and get out to Mabel and to prune some fruit trees. Work never quits around here. Early blooming love, Felipe.

Well, I can’t leave myself buried in the brine basking in the Sicilian herbs forever. Not a bad image though. OK, and this is the last that I am going to say about football, at least for this year. So the beloved Seahawks fought a tough one. New England is good and we knew that. And the whole game was close all the way through, one of the better Super Bowl games of the almost fifty played. And under those circumstances there is no room for error and that is what happened to us in the final seconds, that we committed an error. Well, it is only a game, right? Right? Right.

So ever onward we pilgrims go. I am waiting for a break in the rain to get back outside. Just got soaked walking with Deb so I’ll warm up for a while inside and whittle away at this post.

Let tell you about the new Camino book that I am reading. My Rebecca found it for me. It is “Along the Way” by Martin Sheen and Amilio Estevez. Sound familiar? The movie “The Way” by these same two was where a lot of us got started on this Camino thing in the first place. So this is a book about how the film came to be and about the filming. So, more on that when I get done reading it.

Let’s see what else is in the news that is worth telling you about? OK, here is something that is coming to town here that may be worth looking out for. This is the first that I have heard of this and it looks really intriguing but maybe I’m the last to hear about it, which is more the usual. This appeared in our bulletin yesterday at St John Vianney’s here on Vashon:

THE VATICAN M– USEUMS 3D SHOWING
VASHON THEATER FEBURARY 8TH & 12TH
The “Greatest art collection in history” will be coming to Vashon in the form of a 3D film showing at the Vashon Theater.

Sunday, February 8th 1:00pm
Thursday, February 12th 6:00 pm
Cost is $9 for general, $8 for senior and children

Audiences can fully immerse themselves in the timeless masterpieces of art history found in the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. Admire works by Caravaggio, Michelangelo, Fontana, Giotto, da Vinci, Van Gogh, Chagall, Dali and more. Theater audiences will experience the journey under the artful guidance of the Director, Professor Antonio Paolucci who expertly leads through the past, present and future.

A trailer is available for viewing at: www.sharmillfilms.com.au/?p=3824

Just checked out the trailer, very nice. Well, I will leave you there. A special day today somehow, let’s go celebrate it. 3D loves, Felipe.

OK, it’s such a blow that there is nothing to do but bury me. I just want to be laid out in the olive bar at the supermarket. I want to be marinated in with the mushrooms, peppers and capers. Then add the olives from Spain, France and North Africa with plenty of the brine that they are in. Then I need those Sicilian herbs to finish me off. Always yours, Felipe.

Somehow: New England 28 and Seattle 24. Yikes, it’s final. Our best shot loves, Felipe.

NE 14 SEATTLE TWENTY FOUR!