What the heck does that mean Felipe? Well, last night I was watching a sports interview show, Joe Buck’s ” Undeniable”. He was interviewing Abby Wambach, women’s soccer star. At one point in the show she was relating the time when as a result of a talk with a trusted coach she dedicated her life to soccer. She didn’t put it that way. She talked about it as making her love of soccer a lifestyle. Hmm.
Out of coffee, be back. OoK, love my new Mr Coffee by the way. Oh, I have a walk in 40 minutes, back to it…
Anyway, to the topic. So, what is it that is grabbing me with Abby’s story? Maybe it is the idea that there is another level with our interest in pilgrimage. Can one have a live style of a pilgrim? What would that look like? Do you have to walk to have it? What if you are too old or gimped up to actually walk. It is a quest anyway, something with deeper levels than the physical walking.
Yea, we got more questions than answers. Something to ponder I suppose. But I know that this whole idea of pilgrimage in the largest sense which we are dealing with is something amazing. My mind is jumping back to the book “Pilgrim’s Progress” which closely matches the ideas in this conversation. It was a major book in the Western world, read second most to the Bible. It is kind of out of vogue now. Maybe I need to reread it.
OK sports fans, time to find my boots and logbook and get walking. Hoping that Commando Bill will show up. I think that he has to be at the hospital later today but maybe he can squeeze it in. You come by when you get a chance too.
Ok, love as a lifestyle, Felipe.
Hola Felipe,
Hope today’s walk was a nice one! This thing about being a pilgrim outside the Camino is close to my heart. My life changed after the Camino and it was because “I was a pilgrim”. After my first time walking, I wrote the lines below… I do believe we can be a pilgrim after the Camino, but the Camino is not essential to be a pilgrim, I think the requirement is to see life as a pilgrim would do, the Camino just give you the chance “to try it” for a certain number of days…
Hugs to you all up there from down here,
Cris
“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.”
Thank you Cris. So much good writing for us. Would it be OK if I moved some of this over to the blog and we talked about it there? Too much good stuff. I’m glad that we didn’t set up a FaceTime for yesterday afternoon as I was on the ferry to the hospital as was in the blog today. Life is like that. Felipe.x
Hi Felipe,
Yes, feel free to move it, we are here to share the experiences! Yesterday I needed to go to the office, and was also late to come back… Hugs,
Cris