It's getting closer...

It's about 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 19. Up this morning at 5:30-ish, took the dog for a long walk, back for my shower, breakfast, paper, and now here with iced coffee ready to post for a bit then get to work. My long walk is approaching, perhaps faster than I would like, but it comes when it comes, right? My shamanic teacher has agreed to do a blessing ceremony for me and my equipment the week before I leave. I will have to decide who to invite, although I think I probably already know. My mind is always crossing itself with ideas of what to take, what to leave, how to pack it, etc.

On the e-mail list regarding the Camino that I've belonged to for years, people have just said, well, just go...pack your bag and go! This was in response to when I posted a couple of years ago and said I was going to do my first (notice I do say "first") Camino when I turned 50. But it's not something you "just go" and do. Even though I am neither Catholic nor Christian, the whole idea and energy of a pilgrimage, a long trek to a sacred goal, is one that has appealed to me since I was a child. It is not something entered into lightly. Of course, I'm not saying that someone who makes a decision to do it, and then leaves a week or a month later isn't a serious pilgrim. And just because it's taken me 7 years from my decision until the time of preparation does NOT mean that I am a more serious pilgrim than anyone. In fact, I would heartily argue the opposite.

My reasons for doing this are many. I want to experience the physical challenge at a time in life where a lot of folks might say it's time to slow down. I want to be in a different culture for more than a week. I want the solitude of walking in a place where I've never been before and where I do not speak the language (well, not much of it anyway!) And I want to feel the energy of a Way that has been walked my so many countless pilgrims before me, to put my feet in their footsteps and to absorb any messages that they might have left behind. I remember sitting in Salisbury Cathedral in 2000, with my mother. It was our first day in England, her first trip overseas at 68, and we had come to the cathedral from Stonehenge. We opted out of the guided tour, choosing instead to take the brochure and just wander around, looking in awe at the gravestones, the carvings, etc. We sat in a pew shortly before leaving and I read in the brochure that services have been held in Salibury Cathedral EVERY SINGLE DAY since the year 1258 (I think that was it). It was a stunning, astounding thought. The energy of all the prayers, and songs, and thought that had poured into that structure. The countless layers of incense smoke, of tears, tears of joy, tears of sadness, fear and mourning. It was all imprinted into those stones and, sitting there, I could feel it pouring into me.

I hope to get some of that experience every day, with each kilometer I walk on the Camino, and I hope to leave some of my own joy and energy in my footsteps for those who come after me.

Many blessings to all,

Crone