Caminoheads – Ryck Thompson-Post for Phil. May 2020

I am moving. I have accepted a job in Washington D.C. It is hard. It is hard to leave where I live here in Poulsbo. I love Poulsbo, WA. I love the people. Change is hard. Change is stressful. I was comfortable in my job. Too comfortable. It was no longer challenging to me. The people I worked with were great people. The job was a very good job. What was missing was what I call, “Feeling the burn”. “Feeling the burn” is what I define as stepping outside of my comfort zone to initiate change. Without change for me, there is no growth. Just as the seasons change, and Phil describes how he gets the wood ready during the summer so it can dry, and then stacked for the winter months, getting the corn planted for it to grow and be harvested, people also need change. Some people anyways. People like me. Like many of the people I had met on the Camino De Santiago. The Camino in itself was a “burn” which initiated a change in most of us I think. It was the hike, the “burn” itself which was far greater than it was to reach the destination.
I have 3 kids. 16, 13, 13. The twin 13 year olds Ryan and Sydney are taking the upcoming move as graceful as they can. My 16 year old daughter, Alexa is absolutely broken about leaving. I don’t blame her either. But there will invariably be a “burn” that they will all feel. They may not know it right now as they are so pist off at me for uprooting them across the country…..but they will feel this “burn”, and one way or another, they too will be forced to step outside of their comfort zones in life and change. By simple virtue of necessity.
Some people, perhaps just like those of you that are reading this now, we are nomadic by nature. For me, stillness is great for a moment, but it is the pushing through ahead that I crave. To clear my mind I go on boat rides on my boat (which I just sold to my great friend, Mike) or I will go on long car drives, just driving aimlessly. There is no destination for me, it is merely the constant flow of motion going forward. There is also a course for me, the course leads to a destination I do not believe I will ever get to. And I think for me, that is the point. The destination is spiritual growth. The constant state of growth is the goal. Stagnation equals death.
When I was walking my Camino in 2017, there were so many spots along the way where I questioned what the hell I was doing. If I had been 10 years younger, I would have much more preferred to be drinking from town to town, having one big Party. But that was no longer what I sought. I sought, the “burn”. The walk itself, It was a catalyst for change to me. It is in my soul. The rise of the Phoenix metaphor can be true with us all. Grow, great and true and at your mightiest, set ablaze and turn to ashes and become born once more to continue the “burn”.
My mother always has a home renovating project in process. I told her she reminds me of the “Winchester House” lady…(google it). That lady always had people working at her house. Building, course correcting, building some more. I told my mother, “Lady, the day I come to your house and there is no longer a project in process, I will be worried”. It was a joke, but it’s also true. She agreed.
Chop the tree. Split the wood. Stack the wood. Dry the wood. Plant the corn. Harvest the corn. Eat the corn. Burn the wood. Enjoy the slow moments. Watch the change of nature. Continue to grow. KEEP MOVING FORWARD.
“Feel the burn”.
I love you guys. I love Washington State, but it is now time to change course, and head down to the new destination, and continue building my spiritual projects. I don’t want the projects to ever end….and that, I think, is the point. CHEERS! Ryck:))

Well, that is the first that I have heard of Ryck moving to the East Coast and the Other Washington. Oh, it must be something very interesting, this new endeavor. Maybe we can coax some more news out of him. Anyway, we have not had a Caminoheads East Bureau Chief since Ron moved to Spain. Maybe we can sweet talk Ryck into staying on the team. I for one have always enjoyed his enthusiasm and seemingly boundless energy!

coming and going pilgrim love, Felipé.