billbennettoz
Veteran Poster
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Camino Frances 2013
Camino Portuguese 2014
Via di Francesco 2015
I notice that a thread I posted in February of this year has come back on this forum.
It's called About Letting Go - and I raised the notion of having to let go of certain preconceptions if I were to have a successful Camino in September.
In fact it must have been shortly after that I decided to walk in April. I started in SJPP on April 10th, and arrived in SdC on May 10th. I had a lot of problems with a knee that I discovered later was bone on bone. I'd lost all my cartilage. It was very difficult. Incredibly painful.
Did I let go? Damn oath I did. I had to, to get through it. I learnt a lot. I learnt not to plan, I learnt to trust my intuition, I learnt to accept each day, each hour, each moment for the beauty that was inherent within.
I let go my fear. That's the biggest thing I let go of. If I got scared of something - like would I get a bed that night - I would ask myself: Well what's the worst that could happen?
I found that was enormously liberating. If I couldn't find a bed then I'd sleep in a barn, or in a field under a tree. I was lucky with fine weather. Sleeping in a field under a tree wouldn't be so bad.
Asking myself: What's the worst that can happen? became my mantra, and I've now taken that post Camino into my everyday life. It's equally liberating now in the "real world."
The Camino challenged me to let go, and I had to. And I'm so glad I did.
It's called About Letting Go - and I raised the notion of having to let go of certain preconceptions if I were to have a successful Camino in September.
In fact it must have been shortly after that I decided to walk in April. I started in SJPP on April 10th, and arrived in SdC on May 10th. I had a lot of problems with a knee that I discovered later was bone on bone. I'd lost all my cartilage. It was very difficult. Incredibly painful.
Did I let go? Damn oath I did. I had to, to get through it. I learnt a lot. I learnt not to plan, I learnt to trust my intuition, I learnt to accept each day, each hour, each moment for the beauty that was inherent within.
I let go my fear. That's the biggest thing I let go of. If I got scared of something - like would I get a bed that night - I would ask myself: Well what's the worst that could happen?
I found that was enormously liberating. If I couldn't find a bed then I'd sleep in a barn, or in a field under a tree. I was lucky with fine weather. Sleeping in a field under a tree wouldn't be so bad.
Asking myself: What's the worst that can happen? became my mantra, and I've now taken that post Camino into my everyday life. It's equally liberating now in the "real world."
The Camino challenged me to let go, and I had to. And I'm so glad I did.