- Time of past OR future Camino
- First one in 2005 from Moissac, France.
For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here. (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation) |
---|
@David thank you for this.
learned the lesson of expectations about 20 years ago when I was at an ayahuasca retreat. I had read great descriptions of incredible experiences and insights and was eagerly anticipating my own. Needless to say I was disappointed with everything and everyone connected with that first evening. Which made me even more disappointed and upset.
I took the day to walk in the park and laze about and pick at my feelings. And realized that I had gone into it expecting to mimic someone else’s experiences. I managed to toss that aside and ended up having my own epiphanies.
We can only ever experience our own lives. Trying to live someone else’s is impossible. We can empathize with them, we can celebrate with them but they are not ours. Sometimes our lives and experiences are less than we had hoped. Sometimes they are more. Sometimes they just are.
Very perceptive as, very often, the problems/challenges we experience in this world are due to our own, falsely self-created, perceptions if I may humbly so opine. Being able to change or refine our perceptions is an important life-long skill although I have to admit this is an ever-changing process as we never, completely never, get it absolutely right. Thank you for sharing.Note to moderators - this is not a discussion on religion in any way, merely background to a point I would like to make about attitude on Camino - just my point of view of course.
Hi all. There was a post recently that may still be going on - (and to which my reply would probably have been seen as somewhat rude by some .. a wake up and snap out of it response which I have now edited) and it was by a sadly unhappy person .. unhappy because their Camino was completely unlike their expectations ... and this really can be a problem ... to go there with expectations, plans, pre-conceived ideas about how it will be out there - if the Camino, as pilgrimage, is anything it is stepping off the cliff into the unknown .. a something that, unless we make it a guided package holiday, we have to be open to and ready to take all as it comes.
As Frank Zappa once said "a mind is like a parachute, if it isn't open it doesn't work"
Anyway ... I was reading some Minot Savage just now - my go-to theological reads. A 19th century minister located on the east coast of America, a leading Unitarian, and a great speaker, a great thinker, a great man ... I read and re-read his works often.
I noticed this and although I have read it many times this time it seemed apt for attitude and awareness on Camino ... to be aware, to be ready to engage with 'what is' not what one wants ... to make the most of each thing that happens .. to see .
(works with life generally too)
View attachment 150250
Ref: Our Unitarian Gospel, Minot Judson Savage, Reprint, first published 1898 - Pge 78
Thankyou so much for sharing this Rumi poem! Wow, it is timeless, profound and beautifulLove this, thank you for sharing, @David -Prior to my 17 yo son and I beginning our Camino in Astorga on June 14/15, I was carrying a lot of anxiety and worry about what might go wrong, especially in terms of the chronic illness I live with. The very first day, within an hour of getting off the train in León prior to our connection, Camino Magic showed up and came through in a powerful way and put me at the most profound sense of ease and trust that has allowed me to appreciate the small things every day - and see and respond when those around me are in need.
Not quite the same, but for some reason your post is also bringing up for me the Rumi poem:
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
This is one of those statements where I feel it necessary to point out that one of the worst of expectations is that one can expect others, either on this forum or on the camino, to be engaged in the same way with walking the camino as we are as individuals. I don't think one should ever expect that, nor make such bold statements about the motivations of others about which we have neither insight nor understanding.We are all searching for a deeper meaning to our camino, and our lives, especially as we mature.
Don't push back.
Don't fight against it.
Embrace it.
However uncomfortable that makes you feel
I never planned or had expectations of my first camino, because I was just tagging along with a friend. A real blessing. I didn't have a guidebook or anything but a little book of Michelin maps that I bought in Leon. It wad such a gift to be so open and without the overlay of movies and endless vlogs, blogs, forum posts, etc.Unfulfilled expectations can be the death of a great Camino experience.
Precisely. It is something I would not personally take for granted.This is one of those statements where I feel it necessary to point out that one of the worst of expectations is that one can expect others, either on this forum or on the camino, to be engaged in the same way with walking the camino as we are as individuals. I don't think one should ever expect that, nor make such bold statements about the motivations of others about which we have neither insight nor understanding.
Amén. Isn't it wonderful?This about sums it up! I believe there is such a thing as too much planning, too many expectations. Just go with an open mind and an open heart and embrace what comes next. There is such beauty in getting up each day and going for a long walk, not knowing how your day will unfold.
Buen Camino!
View attachment 150335
I think that i should have said MANY are searching for a deeper meaning..., instead of WE ARE ALL searching...This is one of those statements where I feel it necessary to point out that one of the worst of expectations is that one can expect others, either on this forum or on the camino, to be engaged in the same way with walking the camino as we are as individuals. I don't think one should ever expect that, nor make such bold statements about the motivations of others about which we have neither insight nor understanding.I think that I should have said MANY are searching for a deeper meaning...
Thanks for sharing that. I am going to share it today with a friend who could use those words today and also try to get a copy of that book!Note to moderators - this is not a discussion on religion in any way, merely background to a point I would like to make about attitude on Camino - just my point of view of course.
Hi all. There was a post recently that may still be going on - (and to which my reply would probably have been seen as somewhat rude by some .. a wake up and snap out of it response which I have now edited) and it was by a sadly unhappy person .. unhappy because their Camino was completely unlike their expectations ... and this really can be a problem ... to go there with expectations, plans, pre-conceived ideas about how it will be out there - if the Camino, as pilgrimage, is anything it is stepping off the cliff into the unknown .. a something that, unless we make it a guided package holiday, we have to be open to and ready to take all as it comes.
As Frank Zappa once said "a mind is like a parachute, if it isn't open it doesn't work"
Anyway ... I was reading some Minot Savage just now - my go-to theological reads. A 19th century minister located on the east coast of America, a leading Unitarian, and a great speaker, a great thinker, a great man ... I read and re-read his works often.
I noticed this and although I have read it many times this time it seemed apt for attitude and awareness on Camino ... to be aware, to be ready to engage with 'what is' not what one wants ... to make the most of each thing that happens .. to see .
(works with life generally too)
View attachment 150250
Ref: Our Unitarian Gospel, Minot Judson Savage, Reprint, first published 1898 - Pge 78
Finished the Invierno recently, and I agree.Amén. Isn't it wonderful?
Thanks @David for starting this thread. I'm reading through the posts while resting my feet after a 30 km day on the Olvidado.
Before I started this Camino I actually planned (a first for me) because I was told that there are few to no services during the stages, poor to no signage during the first week, little chance of meeting other pilgrims and only several albergues.
After 11 days walking all of the above have been true! So yes, plan as little as possible, but on some very solitary and remote Caminos preparation is essential
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?