Santiago

One wet happy pilgrim. Pict by Luke, 05Oct2014

 

Dear Caminoheads,

10 years ago today, and again 3 years later, on a 5th of October, I arrived to Santiago.

Below is what I wrote 1 year after I set out for the first time, a bit more than 9 years ago. It is pretty amazing to realize I wouldn’t change a word…

 

 

As a Pilgrim I trust in people and I know there is a lot of people out there offering their help and their hearts. I am open to the things they offer without judgement, I try to recognize they are a fellow traveller (some of them starting their journey, some of them in the middle, some of them not yet started), I try to have in mind that not everybody has had the advantages that I have had (even when there were the sad events in my life that pushed me to my journey, but also the amazing companions I met to guide me -among so many other things-).
As a Pilgrim I am sure I do not need too many things to be happy: just a good pair of walking shoes, a comfortable backpack, and allow the time to stop and have the “cafe con leche con tostadas” in the early morning.
As a Pilgrim I know there are yellow arrows everywhere the point is to be attentive enough to see them (even in the Camino where the arrows were painted, we lost the path several times).
As a Pilgrim I learnt:
-The fellow pilgrims are the best gift we can receive.
-The walking starts with the first step.
-You have to wish the Camino to be long (Konstantino Kavafis)
-Everywhere is walking distance if you allow the time.
-The answers come when it is time to understand them (Rilke).
-There is no road, the road is made by walking (Antonio Machado).
-Being attentive is a great attitude.
As a Pilgrim I experienced that the walking was not always thru stunning landscapes, easy fields, sunny and warm days, nice albergues, or nice hospitaleros, though, we kept walking and eventually, we arrived to Santiago. Then, life has not to be different: eventually, we arrive where we are expected (as it is in the cover of “The elephant´s journey” from Saramago, referring to the book of the itineraries).
In the Camino I learnt that if you ARE a pilgrim, you are a Pilgrim for ever.
Today, one year after setting out to my (first) Camino, I need and want to thank to the fellow Pilgrims I met there for helping in my healing.
I want to thank also to the Pilgrims I met before my Camino who have walked with me in some of the most difficult parts of my life and listened, were there, and ended with wet t-shirts after having cried in repeated times while they were holding me.
And I want to thank also to the fellow Pilgrims I met after my Camino, as they are the confirmation that what I learnt and experienced and knew in my walking to Santiago, occurs in the world itself.

Buen Camino!

Cris

One thought on “Santiago”

  1. Everything you noted as a learning, rang true like a bell for me as well. One thing that I have always loved is seeing people’s photos of their arrival in Santiago. I am always struck by how open are our eyes and faces, how young and/or innocent we appear, how weary too. There is a kind of raw beauty present in each portrait. So sweet.

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