WanderingAussie
New Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- July (2017) Frances
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hoping I'll experience some type of epiphany moment
Just be prepared that what you seek may not look like any imagined epiphany. It may look like trouble, or pain, or an unexpected inner or outer challenge. That's the part of the Camino that transforms, changes, and opens us to new ways of being.
I remember a post from a woman a while ago who had been walking for a few weeks and was wondering when she could expect her epiphany to happen...
Like x1000Overthinking things, including a camino, is a first world problem. When the mind is generally at ease about pressing matters like food, shelter, safety and money, it tends to turn elsewhere to fret and worry about. There is nothing wrong with that, in fact I think it is unavoidable, but it remains a first world problem.
The fun bit about a camino, or any long trek, is that it forces you back to the fundamentals of living. Where do I sleep, what do I eat, how long do I walk; that is pretty much the scope of your worries while walking. And when you walk in a civilised country (like Spain), those things are not hard to arrange.
You will find that the direction and meaning in your life during your camino will be obvious and relatively easy to achieve. Direction = Santiago, Meaning = enjoy the walk. This mental simplicity, and the physical discipline of walking each day, will let you rediscover and reconnect to the 'simple' pleasures of life. And that will soothe your pre-camino fretting and worrying. It is all about perspective.
The real trick is to keep that perspective going after you've walked the camino. But let's not go there at this point in time. You can worry about that later... Buen Camino!
Your post has touched my heart. In 1994 I attended a spiritual retreat called The Five Day Academy for Spiritual Formation. Fast forward through 9-10 more Five Days, 3 years of seminary, ordination, leaving the church, attending The Two Year Academy for Spiritual Formation (you can learn more about the Academy at upperroom.org) and I’m going to do my Camino in September. Epiphanies come when we are open to them and we may not recognize them until some time later. You sound like a person with an open heart. Silence is a wonderful place for epiphanies. Relax, empty your mind, listen, and keep putting one step in front of the other. You are not alone.Hello fellow pilgrims!
So this may be a tad overly philosophical for my first post, but I can only assume I will follow up with questions about pack weight and albergue recommendations down the track
I will be walking the Camino Frances from SJPDP for the first time in July this year, and I'm very excited!
There is something that has been playing on my mind of late however, and as I've read the amazing posts and comments on the forum I feel like this is the right place to air my grievance and get some feedback:
I am a bit lost for direction and meaning in my life at the moment (one might call it a mid-twenties existential crisis), and I keep unwillingly thinking that walking the Camino will help me figure out where I belong/the type of person I hope to be in the years to come etc. I keep trying to tell myself to take the Camino as it comes with no expectations, that the walk itself will be enough of a journey, but I subconsciously am hoping I'll experience some type of epiphany moment.
What I'm wanting to know is if anyone embarked on their journey with similar thoughts, and how that worked out for you? Or perhaps were these things that popped up for you after you started to walk?
I know I'm overthinking things but I somehow can't stop! Help!
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