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That may be quite common.I had no spark of enlightenment or similar while walking!!
You don't adjust, you just go forward as the new person you found on the Camino.
love your avitar i remember seeing that sign last year n thought it was cool,can i ask how in your caminos past and future you have "almost orrison "?just being nosy feel free to tell me to mind my own business!How do people adjust to home after their return from the Camino?
We don't, we dream about the next one and check the forum to see who is doing what.
love your avitar i remember seeing that sign last year n thought it was cool,can i ask how in your caminos past and future you have "almost orrison "?just being nosy feel free to tell me to mind my own business!
Some above have said many things I relate to. I cannot remember a day since I first decided to walk my first Camino that I have not thought about the Camino. I am always thinking of and planning not just the next one but the next ONES! I hope that I will be able to continue them for some time, not just because of my health (I'm fine so far) but that of others. I feel sorry for those less fortunate. Pat because of his "almost Orisson". Kat who is undergoing a horrible time with her feet. Kanga for her devotion to her family. All the others too numerous to mention. After the first Camino my friends said I had become quieter and more reflective, that I had changed somehow. Someone above talked of a "reboot". In a way they are right. It is as if the operating system of daily life has been reloaded and so works better, but the data has been retained with the "bad stuff" archived - still there to draw upon if needed but not in my face any more.
Al, as mentioned in another thread, I think the Camino reveals our true spirit, it helps us declutter and as you said archive the "dealt with" bad stuff. Thanks for you insight.Some above have said many things I relate to. I cannot remember a day since I first decided to walk my first Camino that I have not thought about the Camino. I am always thinking of and planning not just the next one but the next ONES! I hope that I will be able to continue them for some time, not just because of my health (I'm fine so far) but that of others. I feel sorry for those less fortunate. Pat because of his "almost Orisson". Kat who is undergoing a horrible time with her feet. Kanga for her devotion to her family. All the others too numerous to mention. After the first Camino my friends said I had become quieter and more reflective, that I had changed somehow. Someone above talked of a "reboot". In a way they are right. It is as if the operating system of daily life has been reloaded and so works better, but the data has been retained with the "bad stuff" archived - still there to draw upon if needed but not in my face any more.
That may be quite common.
Home is great if you have identified the parts that caused anxiety, and use what you have learned to eliminate them. The camino does not cure "home," but can provide insight about it.
Maybe that is true. I considering a number of adjustments.Another thought maybe why adjust back, maybe the Camino is telling you what you had may not have been the best for you?
I agree with the de cluttering, I knew that when we could survive with so little on the Camino that we are carrying such a lot of unnecessary rubbish both physically and mentally. I agree with choosing the people you want to be around in your life.For me I find it always unsettling when I return home and try to get back into the swing of reality. I do a lot of long distance hiking and sometimes it's out bush (Australia) where you might not see anyone for a while so to come back to the fast pace is hard. Also you tend to de clutter your life with stuff that you don't really need. What I did notice though after the Camino I came back and this time really look at what was going on around me and who was around me. I sadly (but for the better) had to say goodbye to some people in my life that I realised were not healthy to be around. It was a weird realisation that I had but a very needed one to come too. Now in myself I feel more real. More me. And a whole lot stronger. The power of such a walk is amazing and I think the best way to cope when you return is to go with the feelings within you, breathe, and when it's all to hard find a quiet place and transport yourself back to how you felt on the camino. It's a powerful thing. A feeling (the good and bad) that should be cherished.
I am giving this a lot of thought and I find it a bit frightening. I was working on it before I went on the Camino and obviously have a lot more to do.Your little "fuzzy/numb" around the edges and a bit disconnected is your spark of enlightenment from El Camino. Oh, and if you were a true pilgrim, and it certainly sounds like you were, then you NEVER return home...impossible to do and not anything you'd really want to do. You have changed in intricate and extensive ways and it is a beautiful thing to check out and really know the you that is you now. Buen Camino y Ultreia...
I found putting photos of places and people I met a helpful thing to do as I want to keep the experience alive. I do appreciate that I was able to do it and also to get safely to the end.it's been seven years, and i still have flashbacks to my happiest moments as if they are in current time. all it takes for me is walking alone in the early morning, or feeling cool morning air before the sun takes its place. any gravel path the i feel beneath me, and crossing any long grass. in these moments i feel like i am neither lost or found. the easiest way to say it, is that unlike other places that i have visited and hold close to my heart-memories, there's been no other journey that has stuck with me with an erasing of time. it was indeed yesterday. i think that a lot of the possibility of difficulties afterwards comes from having been somewhere and actively doing something with a goal, strictly for one's self and with little worry. life at home is never like that, well, maybe for the 1%, but i don't consider the extraordinary when forming my thoughts on life. to this day i open my folder of camino photos, and never finish looking through them. i just can't. i never even took photos of people that i met, that's just the way i am, it's more of a documentary to trigger my memories of places and people as i remember them. somehow i feel like I'm diverging...my point is, there is no adjustment, in my experience. it's more of an appreciation. what i missed the most when i was there doing a journey for me, my little niece more than anything. now i have two and look forward to encouraging them to follow their goals when time and age allows. if anything, it's not necessarily an adjustment at home, it's an appreciation of the quietness and softness that regular life offers that many of us walk past.
A bit like an explorer returning from a foreign land with a remarkable account of what was seen, heard, smelled, and felt.
Foreign literally, and figuratively in the sense that the camino most people walk is unfamiliar and otherwise unlike the lives they live away from the camino.
A analogy that appears from time to time on this forum, and repeated more often on the camino, is trying to explain the taste of chocolate to someone who has not tasted chocolate.
The effect of the camino on some people (me included) is a newfound preference for a slower pace and a simpler lifestyle. Some (me included) return with a heightened awareness/appreciation/connection of and to nature, and a greater ease in trying new things and less anxiety about spontaneity. Some (me included) become anxious or feel an aversion to conflict and the intrusion of technology/media/prolonged connectedness to e-communications.
In other words, some people (me included) experience something akin to a hard re-boot, in computer terms -- our operating system becomes reset to factory specifications -- our cache is cleared, corrupted files and permissions repaired, etc.
Now, if one (me included) returns to a spouse/partner/children, the adjustment -- for all parties -- can be complicated and frustrating. Old patterns of thought and behavior altered or abandoned by the pilgrim who returns -- in contrast to those who remained at home, unchanged.
Further, if the purpose of the camino included a religious foundation (me included), then changes in thought and behavior might be perceived (incorrectly) by others as arrogance or some sense of superiority or judgement (when in fact the opposite is true ... profound humility and gratitude for the experience).
Regardless, family and friends might perceive the pilgrim is happier on the camino ... what does that mean, how will that affect relationships, etc.?
All of this is to say for some people (me included) returning can be difficult for a time ... but manageable with patience and reassuring words and deeds -- plus occasional long walks, hours or days unplugged from the Internet and cellphone, and, of course, this forum.
Yes, I feel the same but don't bother to explain to people what it meant for me. I loved the simple life. Still, I am not actively planning another Camino.It usually takes me a couple of months to acclimate. I'm usually very quiet and not very engaging. You're going from a simple world that very few back home can relate to. They want to hear all about it, but get easily bored because they can't relate. I then get tired of trying to explain because it is impossible for me to relate my camino experience to someone who has never had one. So then my response to their questions becomes very short and unenthusiastic. The things I learned eventually fade and then I have to go back and do it all over again for a refresher course. Not so bad. At least that has been my experience.
Now I'm excited about the next one starting August 30th!
I have more of a "non-feeling about everything" and don't plan another Camino, not in a negative way. I knew planning my trip that I was privileged to have the time, resources and good health to undertake the journey. I really appreciated this while on the journey as very few people can wrench themselves from their lives to make the trip. Reading all the comments has certainly helped me sort my feelings and I'm glad I'm human after all!Frankly, I'm a bit depressed and grumpy, and have begun planning a new Camino, and Camino prep, in anticipation of a return next spring. On the other hand, I've returned to my pre-Camino life with a greater awareness of how privileged I am to have the work flexibility to make this journey, and the financial flexibility to save for the trip. I know people who'd love to do this journey but cannot, because of health, work obligations, or financial and familial obligations.
I plan to return, and I miss my Camino, but I have renewed gratitude for my good health, my work flexibility, my children's independence, and the fact that I don't live paycheck to paycheck.
Still slightly grumpy, though!
I am concentrating on what to do with the change, that is the hard part.You're lucky(?) you only walked from Sarria! Don't worry about the change; concentrate on what you're going to do with it.
this sounds very similar to coming back from a mission trip. You may have changed, the people around you didn't have the same experience. You move forward and embrace the changes within.You don't adjust, you just go forward as the new person you found on the Camino.
I just LOVE your description! My experience exactly!It seemed that only when I arrived back ‘home’ after two months in europe and caminho portuguese I realized just how GONE I was.
I stood in my cute li’l flat with my suitcase and backpack, as if I visited the home of a stranger… and thought: NOW WHAT???
For e.g. I did remember that I had a laptop, but I had no clue what I’ve done with it, where I placed it. No recollection. Was completely gone out of my memory… I had to search my entire place to find laptop, keys and many other items.
Now, THAT had never happened before on any of my numerous travels and journeys.
Perhaps I did not recognize the depths of the experience of the Pilgrimage (vs just a walking holiday) while I was experiencing it, because that was then "daily-life”… The walking, getting ready, sorting back-pack, rolling up sleeping bag, massaging feet, filling water bottles, stopping at the wayside crosses and chapels, obtaining carimbo’s, eyes open for yellow arrows, navigating ancient roman roads, smiling at strangers, looking for a bar for caffe’ and water and juice and restroom, viewing the landscape with never ending marvel and so forth… the hours of solitary walking, the sojourns at night with strangers, noisy and quiet ones alike … perhaps I did not entirely notice just how I got inwardly changed while living such a simple life. All molecules seem re-arranged, now I am as if parachuted back into a life I lived before …
I am not actively planning a new pilgrimage — the recent one still goes on … I still am digesting the one I just returned from …And i would not be surprised if in the near future I will tie those shoelaces again and shoulder the pack, get those hiking poles and am off again…we shall see.
I am required to engage with life differently now …with the same openness and willingness to flow with events, not-knowing and circumstances as on the caminho with the yellow arrows. — to be alright with the ambiguity and ambivalence…to know and feel that all is woven together into one fabric that we call life.
Don’t have the foggiest idea where my next paycheck job is coming from … I just set one foot in front of the other, just as on the caminho …
So grateful for all the experiences along the path.
Panta Rhei — all is in flux, moving, flowing … and am off now to paint a yellow arrow on the wood in front of my door
Ughhhh...It was hard...I have to go again to get it right this time.Hi, just wondering how others found the change from the Camino to settling back at home? I'm a little "fuzzy/numb" around the edges and a bit disconnected. I had a good experience, met lovely people and managed the physical side of things very well. I had no spark of enlightenment or similar while walking!!
Just a thought that you say your on a different wavelength I see it as we are all on different wavelenghts its the ability to accept others whilst not changing yours. The family have not changed, you have so just accept them and smile more that always helps. I am in the same situation.I like the analogy about the taste of chocolate!
Slower pace and simpler life I agree with. I have always had a good appreciation for nature and continued to enjoy it along the Camino.
I was so happy not to see TV or radio while away. I remarked on the Camino that I had not been in a 4 wheel vehicle for 3.5 weeks, strange what you can do without.
The return to spouse and family may cause concern as I think I'm on a different wavelength and haven't tried to convert the unconvertible ! As I said in reply to another person on the forum I am looking at what is going on around me in a new way. Don't know what conclusion I'm going to come to. I'm giving myself plenty of time.
I think maybe too much time goes into the preparations and maybe not the post Camino adjustments. Again the physical, what to bring, this and that.....
I am not planning another Camino in that I don't feel compelled to be there....yet.
Thank you so much for this, amorfati1. I had a similar experience -- forgot money when I went to get a few groceries 'cause it wasn't at my waist. Then I wondered how I transported money in my previous life - two months before. Couldn't even think of the words for purse or wallet or tote bag... Haven't told anyone about this little episodeI stood in my cute li’l flat with my suitcase and backpack, as if I visited the home of a stranger… and thought: NOW WHAT???
For e.g. I did remember that I had a laptop, but I had no clue what I’ve done with it, where I placed it. No recollection. Was completely gone out of my memory… I had to search my entire place to find laptop, keys and many other items.
Me too !...... Then I wondered how I transported money in my previous life - two months before.
Love it! So true. I sometimes think it as if in some Buddist fashion the person I was has passed away and reincarnated as me today.in my previous life
I agree with the de cluttering, I knew that when we could survive with so little on the Camino that we are carrying such a lot of unnecessary rubbish both physically and mentally. I agree with choosing the people you want to be around in your life.
Add that to the "chocolate analogy" and after nine months, including my own presentations and watching "Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago", I've come to the following conclusions(!?):Further, if the purpose of the camino included a religious foundation (me included), then changes in thought and behavior might be perceived (incorrectly) by others as arrogance or some sense of superiority or judgement (when in fact the opposite is true ... profound humility and gratitude for the experience).
I started planning another Camino and I got in touch with a pilgrims organization.Hi, just wondering how others found the change from the Camino to settling back at home? I'm a little "fuzzy/numb" around the edges and a bit disconnected. I had a good experience, met lovely people and managed the physical side of things very well. I had no spark of enlightenment or similar while walking!!
I walked my first Camino this past fall. 6 weeks in Sept. and Oct. from St. Jean to Finisterre. My life has taken a radical change since coming back. Finished a 36 year marriage and am forging a new life. I undertook the walk to be brave I thought LOL what happened is I found myself out there on the trail and wondered how I had let that person go. We all walk for different reasons and have different adventures and outcomes. But I think we all find a part of ourselves out there that is a lasting amazement. And I do plan on celebrating my 60th B'day on the trail in 2015.Hi, just wondering how others found the change from the Camino to settling back at home? I'm a little "fuzzy/numb" around the edges and a bit disconnected. I had a good experience, met lovely people and managed the physical side of things very well. I had no spark of enlightenment or similar while walking!!
I am still greatfull a friend of mine showed me some images of his camino he walked some years ago. He was a manager and got unemployed and searched for another kind of forfilling his life. By seeing these images and the thoughts behind it- I just was retired and was trying to find a new direction in my life too after a busy international sales carreer- I decided to walk the camino . Before this decision my wife and I traveled all over the world in luxury.Hi, just wondering how others found the change from the Camino to settling back at home? I'm a little "fuzzy/numb" around the edges and a bit disconnected. I had a good experience, met lovely people and managed the physical side of things very well. I had no spark of enlightenment or similar while walking!!
What wonderful, true words! We find OURSELVES on the Camino. I think so many of us are living lives that at one time made sense, but maybe not so much anymore. Let's face it, our forty or fifty year old selves are rarely the same as our twenty year old selves.It's amazing that when given the opportunity to step away from "life" for a bit comes up, we can really pause, without distractions, and take a good look at where we are and what we're doing with our lives. Are we happy with where we are? Are we on a path that allows our actions to align with what we believe? That, to me, is one of the best things about the Camino. We're given a chance each day we walk to think about where we are in life, to kind of "pro and con" our situation, and (hopefully) by the end have the strength and determination to follow through with changes.I walked my first Camino this past fall. 6 weeks in Sept. and Oct. from St. Jean to Finisterre. My life has taken a radical change since coming back. Finished a 36 year marriage and am forging a new life. I undertook the walk to be brave I thought LOL what happened is I found myself out there on the trail and wondered how I had let that person go. We all walk for different reasons and have different adventures and outcomes. But I think we all find a part of ourselves out there that is a lasting amazement. And I do plan on celebrating my 60th B'day on the trail in 2015.
Its kind of funny, my best buddy is a VietNam Vet, and i emulated the way he ran the roads, with simplicity and dignity, i could pack up a weeks worth of gear in an army duffle and live pout of that for weeks..easy. as long as i had some clean laundry, some emergency munchy and a good book, i would roam the 48 states..content.A common discussion on the Camino was about how many worthless possessions we all waste time working to obtain. What did most people recognized as a fact on the Camino ?---In a word--"Simplicity"---lot of walkers swore they were going to shed all of their junk back home and live with less--but probably most don't. It reminds me of going to a Reunion of my old Viet Nam Veteran friends --most old guys wish they could once again live with only a rifle and a pair of boots as their only possessions. They miss the simplicity of life when they were young and owned nothing. Life on the Camino was similar in being so easy and it is only natural to miss that when we return to our normal life back home.
I was out walking by the river getting the hours in my legs before I go back next month and I found myself looking for those wonderfull yellow arrows. Only 4 weeks to go and I will find them and the peace they bring.The Camino is never, ever far from my mind. This morning I was bicycling the sea wall in Vancouver, BC and this is what I happened upon.
"It's déja vu all over again." (Yogi Berra)View attachment 11374
Hi, just wondering how others found the change from the Camino to settling back at home? I'm a little "fuzzy/numb" around the edges and a bit disconnected. I had a good experience, met lovely people and managed the physical side of things very well. I had no spark of enlightenment or similar while walking!!
It's been a week tomorrow since leaving Spain. As Rebekah Scott said "culture shock does not begin to describe what happens next".
In some ways, one could say that I am blessed as I have had nothing to return back to. No job, no real fixed address, no commitments apart from my dog who cost me a little fortune in vet fees since my return.
With total freedom, ironically comes anxiety and feeling overwhelmed. Which path to take?
I wish someone would come and paint yellow arrows to mark my way.
Hi Al the optimist, The possibility has occurred to me and it would be great to find a reason or even a possibility to stay on. Since I studied Spanish in college (sooo long ago I've forgotten a lot) I've always wanted to go back and this looks like my best chance. MaryHey Mary, maybe you won't come back!
It's been a week tomorrow since leaving Spain. As Rebekah Scott said "culture shock does not begin to describe what happens next".
In some ways, one could say that I am blessed as I have had nothing to return back to. No job, no real fixed address, no commitments apart from my dog who cost me a little fortune in vet fees since my return.
With total freedom, ironically comes anxiety and feeling overwhelmed. Which path to take?
I wish someone would come and paint yellow arrows to mark my way.
I've had real problems adjusting to the real world after the Camino. I've thrown out a lot of clutter from my life but the lure of the Camino keeps calling me back like the Syren's song.
So after finishing in May 2014 I'm already booked for November / December in the same year this time starting in Pamplona to fit in with pre-existing commitments. It will be different in many ways.
Hi Mikevasey, I took advice from an earlier blogger to smile at family while trying to readjust. I found this helpful as I was taking the experience of feeling so different seriously. As I didn't go on the Camino to "look for myself" I am still putting into context the effect it had/ has on the way I am viewing my life.At the moment the energy is subsiding for me, but I have experienced it before not just coming back from Camino's but other places as well. I feel its there all the time now, just waiting for the right time and place for me to dance with it. Its a natural process that it comes and goes unless you are maybe able to create a situation that allows the energy to stay or flourish, working on that one.
I think its hard not to feel down and disconnected when you are stepping out of something special back a familiar routine but it does help if you can keep some humour and laughter close at hand, and remember that the quality of experience you felt is always there waiting for you.
Hi Rebekah, while on the Camino I constantly thought of how people from previous ages coped with arriving to start the Camino and their journey home. It's amazing how they completed it without the modern conveniences we have in our lives, and we think we did it simply?.......I'm sure they had to cope with disease, maybe lack of food and even bandits! We come home to a cosy home and wonder what is wrong with us?One of the things that occurs to me when I read through this thread is how suddenly modern pilgrims are thrust back into "real life" after their extraordinary caminos.
The camino developed over time, in an era when EVERYTHING took a mighty long time to happen. If you went anywhere, you probably walked, or rode a slow animal. And once you got there, you had to turn around and go the whole way home again. Life was short and brutal. Going back to Spain for another go was not an option.
Ergo, people who made the "original" medieval camino had an extraordinary journey to an amazing place. Then they had a journey of weeks or months to process the whole thing before they got home and resumed their old lives -- assuming they survived.
Modern people have 4 or 8 or 24 hours or so between their camino and their home airport. "Culture shock" does not begin to describe what happens next.
It's no wonder so many people feel they are not finished. They probably aren't!
I may be very wrong, but my theory is: for some people (many of them on this thread) the camino clears you up, it gives you a new lease on life, a re-set. It is designed to, over time, show you where you came from, where you are, and what you can be... and from there, it takes you right out of YOU and says it's not about YOU at all, now that you've cleared up your mess. It's about what you can do for other people, other creatures, the world around you.
I think medieval people who really deeply experienced the pilgrimage went home and changed their homes and towns and churches into places of kindness and giving and service, modeled on what they experienced on their camino. They brought that spirit home with them, and did what they could to recreate it in "the real world." We are obviously having similar "conversions" while on the camino. We just don't get the time and journeying needed to apply them!
So, for the sake of world peace, and the peace of mind of all pilgrims, the airport at Lavacolla should be immediately shut down. All pilgs from now on should walk, paddle, hitchhike, or skateboard back home, or at least as far as Madrid Barajas.
Hi T2andreo, you have explained it better than I did! I know I said I had a fuzzy feeling about me all the time, this is still the case but not as intense. I agree that I am still disconnected and care very little about what goes on in the media, the TV and radio turned off most of the time, what doesn't effect me doesn't concern me. I also agree that with the family I don't feel less love but feel differently, so strange to understand and explain. I have no longing to live on the Camino and would be divorced if I was away for 2 months, well done you and for your work in the pilgrim office!Everyone who commented above aptly described the multitude and range of feelings, symptoms, and consequences of doing a Camino. I can truly echo, second, concur, and empathize with every comment made. The most profound comments, naturally, seem to be Al the Optimist, Wayfarer, and Rebekah Scott. All are long-term Camino "addicts." I think that I've become one after my two Caminos.
On my return in late June this year, I was literally trying to work out in my mind how I could move to Spain, at least for part of the year. But reality quickly hit home. While I am comfortable, I am not well-off enough to maintain two homes. I can state that reacclimatization the second time around has been far more difficult than the first time, last year. As others have commented, I found that nothing was important, critical, or desired, beyond the Camino, and related activities. My days are one, long "whatever..."
It has now been about seven-weeks since I returned home. The "fuzziness" is slightly diminished. However, I found that the only way I can get through each day is to surf this forum trying to help others, while planning my next Camino. Presently, I am looking at the Camino Portugues - coastal route - from Porto to Santiago in the first half of June 2015. That should take about two weeks. If I am fortunate, I may be able to volunteer again to help at the Pilgrim Office.
What I would add to all of the above is the profound disconnect I have with my "real life." Like others, I find myself caring far less about current events, politics (a "blood sport" where I live, just outside Washington, DC), possessions, and objects.
The sole "problem" I cannot seem to reconcile is the disconnect between my severe "Caminoitis" and interrelationships with friends and family. As most things in my life back in the world have diminished in importance to me, so too have many relationships.I do not feel "less" love for my spouse, parents, family, pets, friends, etc. However, I do feel "differently" towards all connections to everything not connected to or on the Camino. I think it is the priority order of all of this that has been affected. I just need to deal with it in a grown up manner.
Were it possible, I think I would be living simply along a Camino route, likely in Spain. I am not interested in operating an albergue, a hostal, or any of those common pipedreams that develop among many Camino veterans. Yes, I admit to having those thoughts both last year and this. But I have gotten past that to the essence of my feelings.
My yearning is to live "in the Camino" to be part of the experience, everyday. If it were possible, I might move to Santiago to learn Spanish fluently, then to devote my time and energies to Camino-related pursuits, as others have done.
To say I was addicted would be an overstatement. As much as I am drawn to a life similar to what Rebekah, Johnnie Walker, or Biarritz Don have living in France or Spain, I accept that I have adult responsibilities and commitments here. My parents are getting on and I am the son. I am married to a wonderful woman (35+ years) who understands my need to do Camino, and supports my doing at least one per year. She has not yet done one. For her, this is my "hobby." That explains it adequately for her. But, as I explained, that is far less than the reality.
After being in Spain for two months this year between walking the Camino Frances for the second time and serving as an Amigo volunteer at the Pilgrim Office, I have been "persuaded" that I cannot be away that long, at least while my parents remain in the picture and need me within driving distance. So, I am "sucking it up" until circumstances change.
I presume there are others out there who feel similarly.
Amid the confusion I felt on my return I found the advice to take time to let things sink in very helpful, things will fall into place in its own time. St. James and St. Domonic will be with you along the way. Allow yourself to feel the way you are without concern.It's been a week tomorrow since leaving Spain. As Rebekah Scott said "culture shock does not begin to describe what happens next".
In some ways, one could say that I am blessed as I have had nothing to return back to. No job, no real fixed address, no commitments apart from my dog who cost me a little fortune in vet fees since my return.
With total freedom, ironically comes anxiety and feeling overwhelmed. Which path to take?
I wish someone would come and paint yellow arrows to mark my way.
I agree that there is a definite religious/spiritual presence on the Camino. There were quite a few occasions that we were helped and assisted along the way, it was astounding. I would agree to your advice to "pay attention", and continue to pay attention when at home.Note my signature "motto" below, in Latin. It translates to "It is solved by walking with God." Whether you are a religious or spiritual person or not, you WILL feel the Presence while walking the Camino. It is there.
Millions of pilgrims preceded you over more than one thousand years. I cannot explain HOW or WHY this phenomenon occurs. I just know it DOES OCCUR. While walking, simply open the windows and doors of your mind to the thoughts, impressions, visions, people, places and things you will experience. Try to eliminate distractions like mp3 players, mobile phones, texting, etc. Live in the moment. Relish your social interaction with others.
Trust me, please, it will all work out... The others above, many of who have a much longer affiliation with the Camino than me have also assured me of this in the past. And they were spot-on right.
All you have to do each day is get up, show up, and pay attention. By the end of your Camino, you will have a better view of life and of your future than you currently do.
I have the same problem. Yesterday, my wife and I talked it out and I told her that a very significant part of me did not want to come home after two months in Spain this year, six-weeks last year. It is not personal, I explained. It was the Camino. I WOULD rather be there than "here." Nothing is going to change domestically, but I will be planning at least one Camino for 2015. We will see. I DO have strong faith. That faith has been nurtured and improved on by two Camino Frances, in two consecutive years.
I hope this helps.
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