This time a year ago, I vacillated between frantically planning and quietly anticipating my (first) camino. Now, approximately 10 months later I find little nuggets of memory or nostalgia or yearning and even wisdom where reflection resides. What the meaning of the camino is to me often reveals itself when I least expect it - when I'm more benevolent than I expect of myself, when I find understanding instead of judgement whether towards others or more often, myself. Last night on my very own back porch with a friend and my husband I found myself telling a story of an interaction with another while I walked last year.... my husband (dear that he is) said for the twentieth or so time that I should write down and share my experiences. I'm still exploring/recalling them as they to relate to my everyday life now. The camino continues to provide an internal launch-pad for insight and awareness as well as a warm, cuddly blanket for my spirit and soul.
The value/meaning continues to (delightfully) surprise me here and there with thoughts and reactions that I didn't possess or develop before and don't take for granted now. I could probably write a thick, cumbersome, and ego-heavy paper or book on what the camino means to me. I find that little flames of loving recall as well as little flames of feeling just absolutely perfect and content continue to shape what it meant and continues to mean to me.
I listen to birds ( and humans) with more attention, I give myself space to understand and reflect more generously, and maybe most importantly (to me) - I feel much more generous to the general human condition. Perhaps I've found comfort with a depth that is more profound (than pre-pilgrimage) and a lightness that is incredibly buoyant - I'm so incredibly humbled, and so incredibly grateful.