👣 Noire Pilgrim: The Walk of My Life

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What would you do if you knew you could not fail? Well, That is what I did… 100 posts ago. That’s right, this is my 100th blog post at wood•life•studio. Always believe that something may be improbable and possible at the same time. I had deeply personal reasons for starting this blog. I am still here keeping my mind and heart open to learning new things about myself and the world. Thank you to my friends and readers who let their curiosity lead them here for a moment or longer. The best is always yet to come. Here I go!

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The Walk of my Life

If you have been with me for a while and read my blog, you may remember the big hint I left here about my desire to walk more than 840 kilometers or 500 miles on the Camino de Santiago in Spain.

One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.

I have been training for my camino walk ever since. I’ve also learned so much about the origin of pilgrimages that humans all over the world have made. For centuries, people walked for spiritual, religious, and other reasons that are purely personal. All of them were compelled to walk.

Nothing is in my hands. Nothing is in my control.

Conventional wisdom admonishes that you should not walk the camino when training for the camino. To date, I have accumulated over two caminos’ worth of miles… at home! That is another story.

The wisdom goes out the window when a pandemic, political and economic upheaval, and personal considerations come into play. Fear is present, too. I’ve been examined, vaccinated, and boosted.

Millions of pilgrims, both ancient and modern, walked this earth despite local and worldwide upheaval, war, and personal anxiety. Most of them made it to their destination. Then, some of them turned around and walked back home! There is nothing new under the camino sun.

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People create their own questions because they are afraid to look straight. All you have to do is look straight and see the road, and when you see it, don’t sit looking at it – walk.

– Ayn Rand

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Not If I Walk, But Where…?

Could it be Camino Mozárabe? Hmmmm… let me think about it on my last walk through the neighborhood.

But the beauty is in the walking — we are betrayed by destinations. – Gwyn Thomas

I could say yes to this! It means I would be walking the Camino Mozárabe. My journey would begin from Almeria at the Mediterranean Sea in southern Spain. The route continues north toward Santiago de Compostela located in the northwest corner of the Iberian Peninsula.

Santiago is the ancient, traditional, and spiritual beacon of the European pilgrimages. It is not my final destination. I intend to walk further west to Fisterra, known as the end of the world, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. Ancient pilgrims and inhabitants of this land deemed the spot as such based on the “scientific” knowledge at the time.

I will do it if I am able and have the time.

Modern pilgrims consider it the scientific end of their walk. The zero distance marker – 0km – denotes the end of the pilgrimage and the beginning of a personal, spiritual, and moral transformation.

Camino thoughts

How do I pick one route over the other? And why in the world would I decide to walk this camino which is nearly two times the distance of my first choice? Well, I will have plenty of time to talk about that as I go along The Way.

What does all of this mean? It means that my camino begins when I step out of my door. It really began when I first had camino thoughts a few years ago.

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None of your knowledge, your reading, your connections will be of any use here: two legs suffice, and big eyes to see with.

– Frédérick Gros

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I am planning a few stops in Spain as I set off on the road to Santiago de Compostela.

This is my invitation to you, dear reader, to follow me as I walk more than 1400 kilometers or more than 850 miles on this ancient Spanish route or ruta.

Yes, I plan to keep a diary about my experiences or camino thoughts – the good, the bad, and everything between the two. I have a feeling that every emotion and muscle will come into play. There will be smiles and tears. I know that. My body, mind, and soul will be tested surely. I know that, too.

There is something else. I will encounter many things that I do not know – in nature, in a foreign land and its people, and in myself. I am hopeful, excited, and a little fearful of what I may find, but I’m going.

Is there anybody out there. . . ?

Beating heart:

When it is time, I will begin my pilgrimage. Then I can say where, precisely. Until then…

Baadaye and buen camino.

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♥️ Shirley J