My head is still just at the beginning of the process of fully understanding the degree to which my life will
a) remain exactly the same, and
b) change completely, from this obtaining of the standard French handicap benefit ...
I'm still
nowhere near being able to comprehend exactly how it will affect this ongoing
Camino, as my head has only got so far as realising that it means X fewer roadside rubbish
supermercado meals of dubious nourishment, and Y more simple and normal
menus del peregrino.
Though certainly, the absence of how much "
no tengo dinero" and alms-seeking I've been so long forced to engage in, from being incapable of work but not covered for it, will be a
massive difference once I restart.
It's actually hard for me to envisage a pilgrimage without intrinsic financial worries, because even on my very best attempt at doing so, somebody stole all of my money on week 1 ... I have
never been on a
Camino except impoverished (certain unusual days or weeks excepted).
---
Nevertheless, from my "
True Pilgrim" perspective, and sorry but I am one, this 2019-2020 has been and continues to be, well, just plain weird.
I've been
forced by the
Camino to abandon a "purism" that I am no longer physically capable of (a "
True Pilgrim"
accepts what's provided, including by both God and the Way itself, doesn't impose any fake nonsense where it most certainly doesn't belong) ; though perhaps I should have started to say that this
Camino is
completely unlike ANY that I have ever done previously ; the fact that I need to do this in stages as much from physical as RL "administrative" reasons doesn't change the underlying fact that each of these stages is longer than most people's
Caminos, or that this "full" home to home
Camino of mine is
in toto about 5x as long as SJPP to Santiago ; nor the reality that I'm hopping along at
perfectly dismal daily Km "speeds" LOL significantly slower than those of the
rankest beginner.
But then I have
always been of the opinion that if your current
Camino is not completely unique versus all your previous ones, then there's no point doing it.
Well, unless you just enjoy the pleasantness of the hiking of course !!!
But this time, I'm getting that lesson of mine handed back to me with a vengeance.
But also with an unexpected kindness ...