It is so easy to get lost in this world. So easy to be swayed by the shiny objects, the ways of this world that promise things that in the long run (and short run) aren’t really that important. This week I found myself in a familiar loop of thinking I needed to muscle and force my way through life. When I was in Wisconsin in February, I had coffee with my old youth pastor. I told him about the camino and reuniting with my family and life as a nomad. I told him that I didn’t have a plan. I had my intuition.
He kindly argued that it was nice to have faith, but a five year plan wouldn’t hurt.
Um.
I silently and kindly disagreed.
This is not the way my life works. I would argue that for some, it does. We’ll call them Virgos.
This morning, like most mornings, I woke up thinking about the camino (I know I’ve said this before, but the camino is like a lover I can’t get out of my head). I thought about getting the call, not knowing a thing about international travel or what to pack for a pilgrimage, about only booking the first two nights of my stay, and how everything and I mean everything worked out. I don’t mean it worked out in a way that would be appealing for some. Did I hitchhike at 9pm from the side of a dirt road in Portugal? Yes. Did my debit card stop working at ATM’s leaving me with no money? Yes. Did my shoes fall apart in the middle of the camino and were held together by bright pink KT Tape? Yes. Did I make friends and then seemingly lose them like my granny panties? Yes. Yes. Yes. But did I ever doubt for one second that I would be okay?
No.
The amount of trust I have when traveling is uncanny. I wonder why it is harder to employ that in the monotony of everyday life. What use was the camino if I can’t integrate it into my here and now?
Maybe there is something to be said for collective consciousness. There is a saying on the camino that goes, the camino will provide. And it does. Is it because it is a path meant to emulate how life was intended to work? Living simply, less concerned with material possessions and more concerned with caring for one another?
In the United States and in my community in particular, there are many wonderful people live many tenets of the camino. But the collective consciousness here in the states has a ways to go. It’s not necessary for me to point out how much fear we live in. Being the delicate empath I am, I feel it so strongly everywhere I go.
Grasp. Hoard. Plan.
And thankfully something or someone always brings me back to center.
Let go. Serve. Flow.
I am not interested in a way of life that is dominated by masculine and patriarchal energy that serves the agenda of a world desperately in need of love. I am more curious about a way of life led by intuition and trust.
And for me, that includes a daily and often moment by moment listening for and following the sound of the rushing river that says,
“The water is flowing this way. Come on in.”
Thanks for reading. I have to admit that after that “Letters To Self” challenge, I have wanted to hide under a virtual rock. All that vulnerability day after day made me feel like I had been prancing down fifth avenue nude for a month.
Maybe nude prancing is one of the tenets of being a writer?
On a final note, I am only doing one more Generative Writing Workshop this summer, then taking a break until fall or winter. I am also hosting an online Teen Summer Writing Camp for ages 13-17, that will culminate in a virtual reading for family and friends. Deets below.
As always, thank you for being here!
UPCOMING WORKSHOPS
Summer Generative Writing Workshop
Learn more and register here
Teen Summer Writing Camp
Learn more and register here
Prancing nude down 5th 😂😂😂