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I'm not anywhere near the Meseta yet but does any of you experienced and soul-searching pellegrinos have suggestions of things for me to ponder about during those long hot days of walking?
Knowing myself I might spend hours and hours of thinking about the World Cup or, if I'm in my most philosophical mood, how many grains of salt you can fit into the AT&T Stadium...
I remember this mantra manys a time on long wet cold days.What am I doing here? What am I doing here? What am I doing here? What am I doing here? What am I doing here? What am I doing here?
ha ha well 42 is the answer to life, the universe and everything. i am starting my first camino tomorrow, enjoy yours when it comes around. james
"Travel, like life, must be experienced forward, but is best understood backward, ...to paraphrase Kierkgaard"
Here a link to interesting article I found about "thin places". For me, the Camino was a thin place. May be for you too?
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/03/1...out-of-old-ways-of-seeing-the-world.html?_r=1
"Travel, like life, must be experienced forward, but is best understood backward, ...to paraphrase Kierkgaard"
Here a link to interesting article I found about "thin places". For me, the Camino was a thin place. May be for you too?
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/03/1...out-of-old-ways-of-seeing-the-world.html?_r=1
Thank you for that lovely link. I too have heard about thin places in the past, but associate them with spaces where people have had life altering experiences, such as a hospital room where you watch a loved one die."Travel, like life, must be experienced forward, but is best understood backward, ...to paraphrase Kierkgaard"
Here a link to interesting article I found about "thin places". For me, the Camino was a thin place. May be for you too?
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/03/1...out-of-old-ways-of-seeing-the-world.html?_r=1
What am I doing here? What am I doing here? What am I doing here? What am I doing here? What am I doing here? What am I doing here?
I'm not anywhere near the Meseta yet but does any of you experienced and soul-searching pellegrinos have suggestions of things for me to ponder about during those long hot days of walking?
Knowing myself I might spend hours and hours of thinking about the World Cup or, if I'm in my most philosophical mood, how many grains of salt it takes to fill the AT&T Stadium...
Yes, this is true, too...sometimes. Like "We domesticated horses, mules and donkeys. We invented wagons, bycicles, cars, buses, trains and planes. Why, why, why I am walking through rain, wind and mud, instead of being in Cancun or Ibiza, as "normal" people do?What am I doing here? What am I doing here? What am I doing here? What am I doing here? What am I doing here? What am I doing here?
Hi there Mr. Walker - maybe you will regret asking! You could ponder some of the questions from Esprit du Chemin on their Esprit cards - such as:
"how did the “call” for this adventure manifest itself? who or what was the messenger? it is usual not to obey a call instantly. We start by assembling the necessary courage. Do you recognize it ? How was it for you? what triggers you to set out on the journey right at this moment? what do you intend to gain with your journey? what are your expectations about your way and about yourself? what held you back earlier on? which role do these old barriers play now? what is the most important thing that you take along? which certainties fall away and which have not yet fallen away? who and what do you leave behind? is saying farewell hard to do for you? what does parting mean to you? what emotions are stirred up inside you?“The first step is the hardest” is sometimes said. How did you take your first step? Was it the hardest? which step in your life was more than worth it? which step would you never take again? which experiences were the pinnacle of your life? which was then your own role? which part did other people play in it? which insight did such an overwhelming experience bring you? what did your experience mean to others? when was it that you had lost courage?what were the trials you had to meet head-on? did they come from within or from outside?who and/or what helped you to climb out of this mental abyss? what insight did it offer you? who and/or when was your rod and staff to lean on? asking for help, does it come natural to you? can others call on you for support ? Do you do so unconditionally? which essential motto would you carve intoyour staff? you can also keep other things at bay with your staff. Against what do you want to protect yourself? How? what does “home”mean to you? who or what do you need to feel home somewhere? how do you go about it now that you are on your way? how do you see to it, that other people feel at home with you? do you feel “at home”with yourself? What do you do for it or leave out for it? what kind of hospitality did you experience on your journey? What does it mean to you? would you open your door to a stranger, looking for a place tospend the night? (“pilgrim” literally means: stranger)and for your family and
for your friends ? Does it make any difference? do you behave like a guest in the eyes of the local population ? How do you know?......(Esprit cards are available for download from the website www.espritduchemin.com)
That's just a partial list but once you're finished with those (and after checking the salt answer - because I'm pretty sure it's not right) you can count the # of steps to the next place where you can get a cool drink and figure out what you're going to leave behind so you can carry an extra one with you.
Buen camino
Cecelia
I found the Meseta wonderful, just like meditation, one step after step, just let the mind empty, and achieve a feeling of deep satisfaction.I guess that some queries about “getting a walking companion” are related to being afraid to be alone, with the only company of thoughts and memories that could be good, or not so good. The Meseta, with its vasteness, bare landscape and lack of amiable distractions, gives plenty of time for that.
I let memories, thoughts, landscapes (look, an interesting and lonely tree on the horizon!) , feelings, very minor issues (as "should I stop at Hontanas or try to go to Castrojeriz? uhmmm...maybe another sip of water?), flow as they come, withouth particular order. I don´t think about the meaning of life or arrive to particular epiphanies, but after some days in Meseta, I feel more balanced and in peace with myself. But every time is different and experiences can vary. There are people that love Meseta, and some that just stand or even hate it. It is a very personal thing.
"Travel, like life, must be experienced forward, but is best understood backward, ...to paraphrase Kierkgaard"
Here a link to interesting article I found about "thin places". For me, the Camino was a thin place. May be for you too?
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/03/1...out-of-old-ways-of-seeing-the-world.html?_r=1
"Travel, like life, must be experienced forward, but is best understood backward, ...to paraphrase Kierkgaard"
Here a link to interesting article I found about "thin places". For me, the Camino was a thin place. May be for you too?
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/03/1...out-of-old-ways-of-seeing-the-world.html?_r=1
Think about all the people that have been there before you. Think about the workers who built the Roman road 2000 years ago. Think about the saints who have walked it, both known and unknown. Think about the poor who walked it 1000 years ago and the royalty too. Put yourself in their place. What was waiting for them around that next corner? Was it a friendly town or thieves, ready to kill them for a few pennies?
Imagine you were a pilgrim 200 years ago. You meet a man going the opposite direction. Would you know that you had just met John Adams, a man who would become the leader of a country that doesn't exist yet?
Everyone thinks about pilgrims and how they traveled centuries ago, but what about pilgrims in the 50's? What was there walk like? Will you be brave enough to ask a stranger in the next town? They probably know.
You can ponder the road itself. Why did the Camino go through this little town, but not that one over there?
Think about the pilgrim who walked just last year. Or even yesterday. Why are they walking? What was going through their minds? What were they searching for out on this road? Did they find it?
Imagine pilgrims in the future. 50 years, 100 years, and 1000 years from now. How will the Camino look then?Maybe there will be a pilgrim who spends those miles on the meseta contemplating YOU!
Spend your time thinking about your loved ones, every single one of them. Try to remember your first memory of them. Think about what they really mean to you. Will you tell them when you get home?
Contemplate the graffiti. What were they trying to say? Were they leaving a message of inspiration and hope? Humor? Dispair? Or were they just some jerk with a can of spray paint? Will you leave your mark?
Remember the farmers you see while you walk. Don't forget, that's where the food that sustains you comes from.
Take a drink from your water bottle when you are thirsty and think about how refreshing and good it is. Plain and humble water.
Marvel at the flatness of the meseta and realize it's not all that flat when you're walking.
Talk to a stranger. Maybe there is that one person you keep running into, but have never exchanged more than a "hola.". What's their story? Find out. Your new best friend might be 20 feet away.
Listen to the silence. When you get tired of trying figure out just how in the hell you listen to silence, turn your radio on. Not your mp3 player, but the radio. Most cellphones come with built-in FM radios now. Your might hear a song so good, you'll spend the rest of your life trying to find it again. Or they might just play the same crap they play back home.
So, do all that and that should kill about an hour...
Amazing! Great! John Adams? The second president? (Yes, Google)
Wow, an hour... Ergo, one hour seems like a year on the meseta?
Spanish kilometers!
Try pondering the question: Why is there something rather than nothing?
Me too! It was wet, windy, cold and I enjoyed it. Sounds strange but when I ponder my Camino, I always think of the Meseta.I remember this mantra manys a time on long wet cold days.
or Norse miles! They had me fooled. On St Olav's Way, one man told of walking 3.5 miles that day. Only later did I realise I should have been more impressed.Spanish kilometers!
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