research interests

[bill schmidt]

Hello from Chicago:

I am a new member who will be walking the Camino for the first time this summer. My interests in Pilgrimage are longstanding having focused on its therapeutic benefits. I have used Pilgrimage with parents who have lost children in tragic ways, with great healing power. I am presenting a paper at the International conference on Spirituality and Mental Health at the University of Ottawa this April which offers a summary of my work thus far.

My interests at this point are broader having to do with trying to understand more fully "how" pilgrimage works to the extent that it fosters significant change in people's lives, whatever that change might be. So, I am interested in talking to anyone who has something to say on that score. I am currently framing my questions as carefully as possible, so please feel free to offer any thoughts or experiences.

Blessings on the Way.

Bill Schmidt

 

[KiwiNomad06]

I am not sure exactly how long I had been walking, whether it was a week or two weeks.....but one day when I had sore feet, and it was only too easy to focus on the fact that my feet were sore, I realised that that was not at all the way I wanted to walk. I realised that I wanted to be thankful for the experience, come what may. And I guess I made a 'decision' to be thankful, that lasted the whole walk.

Coming home, it is easier now to look back and see some of the aspects of the whole walk I treasure. There was thankfulness, joy being in the outdoors, rhythm and simplicity.

In terms of fostering change for the rest of my life though, that is the hard bit. Still working out what that means!
Margaret

 

[sillydoll]

Taken from Flickr:

Do you Remember the bridge near Porto (Portugal), which was collapsed seven years ago on the Duero? Antonio lost his entire family that day ...
Since then he starts to walk and has not stopped until today ... what coincidence!
"i'll don't walk many more." Palestine, Rome, Santiago ... "It's an act of faith. I need to forget."

http://www.flickr.com/photos/upsala/311 ... 016819818/

Scroll down to read the English text.

PS: This Flickr collection has some beautiful photos of Santiago at Christmas

Look at these two - one in black and white and one in colour.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/upsala/314 ... 016819818/

 

[Arn]

Bill,

I've hiked long distance all over the world and completed a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail in 96'. As a Marine, I will admit that previous to the Camino, other than a complaint of sore feet, bad or good attitude and the heat or the cold, I'd never really felt any spiritual connection in any of my treks. The Camino changed all that and it continues to change the way I look at my life, my family, my Church and those who I met, got to know and continue to correspond with because of my experience.

There are any number of quality books you can research about the Camino, some where written with the express purpose of making a point(s) or making a buck. The folks on this Forum that choose to respond to you will give you the unvarnished and recent reflections of their Camino and possibly of snippets of those they're come to know and respect.

Arn

 

[NaKwendaSafari]

Arn wrote:
[The folks on this Forum that choose to respond to you will give you the unvarnished and recent reflections of their Camino and possibly of snippets of those they're come to know and respect.*]

Well said Arn, no-one is as sincere as you. Thanks for coming back to this forum, hope to see more of you in future, we have missed your presence.

Joe

 

[Arn]

Joe,

Thanks very much for the kind words. I have been the poorer for not being here and it surely feels good to be back among my friends.

Buen sincere Camino
Arn

 

[Rebekah Scott]

... but if you are giving away big bucks I think any of us is at your disposal!

Stop by Moratinos on your pilgrimage, we´ll show you lots of places to throw money! (we´ve dropped lots down several different holes!)

Rebekah

 

[oursonpolaire]

Depending on exactly when you are in Ottawa, you might be able to drop by the Canadian Company of Pilgrims at our spring meeting and ask all of the questions you wish.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

you can also contact Brett at http://www.schoolofthepilgrim.com. They do all kinds of research of the type you describe, and they´re good people too.

reb.

 

[Anonymous]

it surely feels good to be back among my friends.

Happy New year Arn! Good to see you back! I'm walking again from tomorrow morning - not on the Camino but from Rome to Assisi over new year - but I still have the toe stress fractures from my Worcester to Santiago walk, so I'm not sure how this is going to work out. I'm taking a tent and camping in mild midwinter weather, and I'm marking the 800th anniversary of St Francis walking from St John Lateran back to Assisi after meeting Pope Innocent III and having his Rule approved in 1209.

My Pilgrim Forum badge is still on my rucsack, but it's not a route where anyone's going to recognise it! How did your injuries from the Camino turn out? All healed up now?

Happy New Year everyone!

Gareth

 

[Arn]

Gareth,

Great to hear from you! Your initial walk to Santiago was a triumph by all accords...well done! And, now off with St. Francis in Winter...you are a man of strengths both physical and spiritual.

This will be a short note, but the meniscus sustained some damage, initially from the fall and then, thereafter from bull headiness. I regret not meeting up with folks I'd promised to see (Rebekah, Johnny Walker), but was pleased to meet with Ivar in Santiago. I will return to the Camino.

I look forward to reading more on your adventure to Santiago and the stroll to Assisi.

Arn

 

[sillydoll]

Bill, perhaps you could read pilgrim's accounts of their pilgrimage? Here are a few books, a Google search will reveal a few hundred more.

http://www.angelosjourney.com/

"As I recounted my journey through life, I uncovered many personal demons and fears - love, hate, passion, obsession and dependence, to mention just a few. By doing so, they can no longer control my life or my destiny. With the completion of this book, I am free."

Fumbling: A Pilgrimage Tale of Love, Grief, and Spiritual Renewal on the Camino de Santiago

"A year after her father died, Kerry Egan walked through the fields, mountains, and villages of northern Spain on a medieval pilgrimage road called the Camino de Santiago. Fumbling is the moving journal of her experiences as she and her boyfriend traveled from the Pyrenees in southern France through the valleys of Navarra and westward through the dramatic Picos de Europa of northern Spain to the Cathedral of the Santiago de Compostela, said to contain the remains of Saint James."

Road of Stars to Santiago by Edward F Stanton

His life was a shambles, he felt exhausted by work, his marriage was foundering. So he prepared a backpack, found a walking staff and departed on a 30-day, 500-mile journey along the Camino de Santiago He knew what he was fleeing from, not what he was seeking.

 

[ksam]

Wow, my day has been made!! The two poster boys of what can be done (and perhaps sometimes ought not be done!) on Camino!! Gareth and Arn in one reading !! Great to see your both back amongst, and either on the road again, or thinking about it! Glad to see your both doing and feeling pretty well !

Wishing all the best of New Years,
Karin

 

[Arn]

Karin...for the first time, in a long time...I am both speechless and humbled by your kind words.

Bless you
Arn