Class of 2014...In Review

[Arn]

2015 holds 365 days for the new class to discover, recover, share, or just be there, possibly for the first time...ever.
Buen"Class of 2015" Camino.

For the Class of 2014

What mark did you leave...what did you take away?

Up to now, only the Camino knows. How about letting the rest of us in on your experience.

Arn

 

[neverlost4good]

2015 here:
My mark on the Camino will be my blog: neverlost4good.com
My intention is to listen and report. This year will be a turning point for me.

 

[mikevasey]

For the Class of 2014

What mark did you leave...what did you take away?

Up to now, only the Camino knows. How about letting the rest of us in on your experience.

Arn

I dont know If I have learned it( I think that would mean being it with every single step and breath) but what I can take away and maybe be is have a positive attitude with every experience. I adopted it on my last Camino -out of respect for something that has been very special to me and I had taken it for granted on my two previous ones. Its given me a way forward and much work to do.

 

[bryan pritchard]

I walked July 4 to August 7. Prior to departure, my mindset was that I was going to 'do' the Camino as an exercise in solitude and fitness.
The big shift for me was that I learnt to be a part of the Camino and to accept the myriad of incredible things that it had to offer - people, sites, experiences, and emotions. I didn't 'do' the Camino; I was fortunate enough to get past myself enough to experience and feel more than I had initially expected to.
2015 will be a year for me to visit people and places in North America, with time in 2016 set aside for another Camino experience, again in July, and likely del Norte or Portugués. Buen Camino to those setting out in 2015.

 

[amorfati1]

2015 holds 365 days for the new class to discover, recover, share, or just be there, possibly for the first time...ever.
Buen"Class of 2015" Camino.

For the Class of 2014

What mark did you leave...what did you take away?

Up to now, only the Camino knows. How about letting the rest of us in on your experience.

Arn

i wouldn't know what 'mark' i left ... i actually was not aiming for making marks or leaving traces, if that is possible. of course, i always aim for kindness, knowing that i am not necessarily 'nice' . --
it's perhaps only the people and places encountered who could/would report on that, no? am actually quite content to fly below the radar, not to be noticed, so to speak. and it was only after i had left santiago that i realized that i don't have a single photo image of myself in santiago. clearly, i am not into that 'selfie thingy' - which is a good thing

felt very grateful that i was able to undertake that pilgrimage. time wise, $$ wise, energy wise, health wise etc etc - and felt very protected and looked after. even when one day i felt i was suddenly loosing my eye-sight in the middle of an olive grove miles ahead of rabacal, with no one else around... when i couldn't see well anymore, i was well looked after.

similarly - don't know what i did take away. but surely i was given a lot! and it's a gift that keeps giving.
just in the last few weeks, perhaps inspired by the lovely christmas lights here at residences, i turned into a night-walker. i LOVE walking in the dark, through the streets here, with one hiking pole (for pesky dogs, etc) having a marvelous view across the bay, to see city lights and even better: night skies and stars.
i love the energy of night time walking, indrawn, more reflective... almost a walking prayer time.

how about you?

 

[KinkyOne]

Definitely a year to remember - Camino de Madrid, short CF & Camino de Invierno. These Caminos and especially its people surely left mark in my soul.
Did I left a mark? It's up to others I've met to tell that

 

[Al the optimist]

What mark did I leave? Well my name in a book on an El Salvador hill? A bum mark in the mud on another El Salvador hill? A lasting impression of how nice Ender is and a feeling of gratitude for the signposting by him and his amigos!
What did I take away? Well dog bite marks on my leg from a village on the El Salvador.
Seems like the El Salvador and I had quite a conversation!
Actually loved that part of my Caminos the most. Might get tempted to turn right again at Leon this year if my hell is up to it.
Fingers crossed as ever.

 

[bystander]

Al, love the unintentional typo of "hell" for your "heel"!!

 

[Arn]

I wrote an entire "Dr is IN" on this topic...then spiked it.
Life is complex. The Camino makes life appear simple. We worry about our past life with all its cudda, shudda, wouldas. We plan a future based on what may be.

The mark that I made is on my heart. The Camino put me in touch with my "here and now" by introducing me to what IS as it is.

What did I take away?
In a world divided into so many arenas where we can be blinded by prejudice often birthed in ignorance, or dogma...the Camino accepts all asking only that we treat each other along the Way as what we are: fellow pilgrims heading toward the same goal where the only difference is the direction from which we departed.

 

[Al the optimist]

Al, love the unintentional typo of "hell" for your "heel"!!

Probably a Freudian slip?

 

[DeadFred]

That's a good question , and a "right" question .

I Left

• Two pair of shoes in Logrono
• Friendships
• Donations for the hungry and destitute
• A new perspective of the Camino ... (don't try to picture it before you go , it's not what you think. whatever you think it is)
• Understanding of my capabilities ( and lack there of)

I took back with me

• A lasting passion to return and finish
• Damaged back,hip, and knees
• Humbleness
• Joy and a new fresher more broader view of life
• Many friends
• A love of Spain

Returning in Sept 2016 - Logrono .

 

[Al the optimist]

To pick up the shoes?

 

[SYates]

I tread to cure myself of a very bad case of Camino virus and brought an even worse case of it back! SY

 

[DeadFred]

To pick up the shoes?

Fingers crossed hope their still there Al!

 

[sriyantra]

2015 holds 365 days for the new class to discover, recover, share, or just be there, possibly for the first time...ever.
Buen"Class of 2015" Camino.

For the Class of 2014

What mark did you leave...what did you take away?

Up to now, only the Camino knows. How about letting the rest of us in on your experience.

Arn

We left behind our life sadness at Cruz de Ferro. We told the story of Miracle Man's operation (my husband) to walk the Camino with me and it inspired others.

We look at our photos and fantastic memory board and can't believe we actually did it. Everyday we say "remember that place, person or thing we saw/did on the Camino". So many people ask what was the "best" thing about our pilgrimage and I say, without hesitation "the Spanish people and the other pilgrims". They all live within our hearts.

This is the first time I have been on the forum since returning in late October. I think part of me has stayed there, and probably will, forever. I have returned home more contented and frequently draw on the magical energy that lives within me to handle difficult situations. After all, anyone who has walked the Camino Frances at 66 years of age can stand tall and draw confidence from the experience, but there is also a knowingness of something bigger and greater within my being to help me through.

Buen Camino to the class of 2015. It was much more physically demanding than I thought it would be, and I had watched every Youtube video I could find and read everything on the Forum, but just remember one step at a time, one day at a time and most of all..... Enjoy every second....

 

[Arn]

I sit here in my parlor, less than two weeks until I begin my Camino in Burgos.
I honestly thought, by this Camino, I'd be more confident, more nonchalant, more imbued with the "veteran" approach to the Way.
In that regard, I am as excited and ready for the unknown to what this Camino will bring as I was Lo many years ago.
I will travel much the same Camino as before, yet know it will be different.
I will set out alone, but hope I will meet a Forum member or two.
I will, at one point join up with Fr Jonathan with the intention to expose him to the Camino hoping the Way has something unique, or familiar, to impart to him.
I will accept that each goal, hope and need will be given it's true weight and significance as I walk the Way open and ready to accept what will come.
Blessings to the Class of 2015.
Arn

 

[CaptBuddy]

We left behind our life sadness at Cruz de Ferro. We told the story of Miracle Man's operation (my husband) to walk the Camino with me and it inspired others.

We look at our photos and fantastic memory board and can't believe we actually did it. Everyday we say "remember that place, person or thing we saw/did on the Camino". So many people ask what was the "best" thing about our pilgrimage and I say, without hesitation "the Spanish people and the other pilgrims". They all live within our hearts.

This is the first time I have been on the forum since returning in late October. I think part of me has stayed there, and probably will, forever. I have returned home more contented and frequently draw on the magical energy that lives within me to handle difficult situations. After all, anyone who has walked the Camino Frances at 66 years of age can stand tall and draw confidence from the experience, but there is also a knowingness of something bigger and greater within my being to help me through.

Buen Camino to the class of 2015. It was much more physically demanding than I thought it would be, and I had watched every Youtube video I could find and read everything on the Forum, but just remember one step at a time, one day at a time and most of all..... Enjoy every second....

WOW!
I turned 67 the week after returning home from our second Camino.
The first was in 2012, right after I had 2 procedures for cardiac stints. In 2014, we left for Spain one month after a cardiac ablation (I had another after we returned).
You took the words out of my mouth.

Already planning for a Camino during my 70th trip around the Sun.

Buen Viaje to the 2015 peregrinos.

 

[Kiwi-family]

I *almost* left a grizzling child behind one day, but my conscience got the better of me;-) Besides, she knew how to follow the arrows.