A Spiritual Journey Through Creativity
On June 13 we arrived in Ponferrada and the next morning, after breakfast and touring the castle, we started walking. It was a short day - maybe 7 miles or so. We continued walking day after day until we arrived at our destination in Santiago on June 24. We walked 135 miles in 11 days.… Continue reading Putting the Camino in Perspective
A friend/teacher of mine often writes about how we each have lessons to learn in this life and how those lessons will keep popping up giving us opportunities to practice working through them. I'm starting to get the feeling that one of my lessons is "loss" and I'm so over it. In May we found… Continue reading I Get It…Enough Already
We knew it was going to be a hot day -- close to 90 F near noon, so we tried to get an early start. However, I must have turned off my alarm in my sleep and we woke up a little late. We were still out of the door by 7 am. It didn't… Continue reading Santiago de Compostela
It's so hot. We're all tired. Our bodies are revolting. We've had better days. My mom has a horrible cough and woke up really hot this morning, so she went to the doctor, got medicine and did not walk today. (She's feeling better!) I've got a cold or allergies, so my face is full of… Continue reading Making Our Way
Before I arrived, I read followed several blogs about the Camino and often writers would comment about seeing people many times or developing a Camino family. Since I'm traveling with a large group, I didn't know if we would have the same experience. I imagine traveling alone would lend itself to connecting with other pilgrims… Continue reading The People of the Camino
We were told early on that the best way to prevent blisters is to keep the feet dry and not to walk too fast. So far, keeping our feet dry has been fairly easy. Of course, if you have sweaty feet that could be a problem, but we haven't had any rain yet, which has… Continue reading Go Your Own Way
Before today we could walk a whole day without encountering another pilgrim. Today, however, that changed. In order to receive the certificate of completion in Santiago, one has to get two stamps a day starting at 100k which comes just after Sarria, the town we were in last night. Overnight the Camino exploded. A youth… Continue reading The Camino Changed
We talk a lot while walking but there are times when we're all quiet. Nothing in particular happens, but conversation just stops and we all walk in silence. It's comfortable and easy. When it's quiet I begin to notice all the other sounds around us. The other day when I walked much of the day… Continue reading Sounds of the Camino
Two nights ago we shared communion together as a group. During intercession prayers I offered up: for all the people at home. I've been thinking about those people today... I have a friend who had her last day of work yesterday and will finish packing up her house over the next few days before she… Continue reading For the People
I haven't slept well for the past several months. I've blamed it on a variety of things but could never really pinpoint the issue. The last few nights have been hard with sleep, but once again I attributed it to the snorers or the jet lag. However, last night I began to face the truth… Continue reading I Can Do Hard Things
Anne Brock 