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Answering the question "How little is enough" is what enabled me to go on my Camino, I figured out the answer to that about 8 years ago, I gave up a well paid steady job to stay home with my poorly wife, ( now healthy), since that time I have been working only 6 months pet year in small minimum wage jobs to supplement a small military pension.in those 8 years I have had more adventures with my wife than I had when I was earning twice as much. I have spent the last 8 years on my spiritual development, I think this is why I did not have any great revelations on the Camino, many of the stories and experiences People talk of are things that I experience all the time. I am in the very fortunate position to have the time to sit and contemplate life on a daily basis. Admittedly I gave up a decent job to do the Camino because I did not want to make an excuse for not going. I know in my heart that another job will come along soon.Yes. My first Camino as I was near retirement; and meditating on 'how much is enough?'. About day 7, I had the sudden insight (Paul on the road to Damascus, exhaustion, heat, dehydration, hunger??) that I was working with the wrong question.
The correct question for me was 'how little is enough?'.
Life has been much better since!! So I guess that is transformation.
Good luck with your research. I am not sure that there is a simple/research-able answer; there are separate stories for all 300,000 composela each year. And before I left I already knew that the answer to big existential questions was"42"
Karen, I’m so glad you are researching this, as it seems so many fellow pilgrims have had similar experiences. It was certaily “transformational” for me on my first - and only - Camino, so far, in 2017 when I walked the Camino Portugues. I plan/hope to walk the CF in Holy Year 2021. My wife has younger onset Alzheimer’s and I am her caregiver. My daughters gave me a tremendous gift when they told me, “Dad, we know you have wanted to walk the Camino. Go do it; we’ll take care of Mom.” So I did.Dear All
I'm interested in the transformational nature of the pilgrimage experience, as I've walked a number of pilgrimages myself in the past. So now I'm researching this for my dissertation on the MSc in Psychological Trauma at the University of Chester. Amazingly, this aspect of pilgrimage hardly appears at all in the academic literature, and it's time it did! I think this is why many of us do it to start with. I'm looking to make contact with anyone who feels their experience of walking the Camino (any route) has helped them work through some personal crisis, or highly stressful or traumatic event or situation in their lives, and who feels they've grown as a person through their struggles with whatever it was they were dealing with. This kind of personal growth is known as posttraumatic growth, but in this context, "trauma" has a much wider applicability than solely PTSD or Complex PTSD. If anyone would like more information about my research project, or would possibly be interested in being interviewed about their experience of walking the Camino, please get in touch. I have a research page on Facebook - see @KarenWilliamsResearch, and there's also an Information Sheet I can send to potential participants.
Many thanks
Karen
This research project has been approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Chester.
Dear PurkyJust a gentle reminder: posting your personal email address on a publicly accessible web page slash forum is only a good idea if you are happy to receive lots of spam in the near future. Or worse. If that doesn't make you happy, better use the PM function of this forum. (Hover mouse over member name and select "start a conversation".)
Thank you so much, VNwalking, for your comments and good wishes - much appreciated!Of course it's about transformation.
You get more and more comfortable in your own skin, and more and more comfortable with others in theirs.
And a bit more kind, a bit more content, and a bit more simple.
I'm not in the UK, but warmly wish you well with this, Karen.
Buen dissertation camino, peregrina...
Hi CaminoresearcherHi Karen,
I also wrote my dissertation on the topic of the Camino, so I can relate to your experience!! Best of luck to you.
I walked the Camino shortly after losing my mother, and I would definitely say that the pilgrimage served as a way for me to work through my grief. I didn’t come home “fine”; grief doesn’t work like that. But there is a catharsis in pilgrimage, and the experiences I had while on the trail were certainly healing. I would be happy to discuss this further if you would like. Feel free to email me at personal email address deleted by moderator
Dear MichaelKaren, I’m so glad you are researching this, as it seems so many fellow pilgrims have had similar experiences. It was certaily “transformational” for me on my first - and only - Camino, so far, in 2017 when I walked the Camino Portugues. I plan/hope to walk the CF in Holy Year 2021. My wife has younger onset Alzheimer’s and I am her caregiver. My daughters gave me a tremendous gift when they told me, “Dad, we know you have wanted to walk the Camino. Go do it; we’ll take care of Mom.” So I did.
Somewhere on the trail south of Arcade in the blazing heat of August, was the first real chance I had to really process things, how this disease had dashed all our plans, how our future would be. It hit me like a ton of bricks and for the first time I broke down and sobbed. I didn’t care; I was alone on the trail. But then there was this overwhelming feeling of calm; that feeling that despite what had happened, things would work out. And so I went on. I met some wonderful people. We shared as much or as little as we cared about our lives, our circumstances. It was almost like Confession, knowing that what was shared was held in confidence - feeling blessed and unburdened. Arriving at the Cathedral in Santiago was an emotional experience for me and the people I had befriended. When I returned home I was on fire and people noticed something different. My challenges as a caregiver have not disappeared, but I have been able to meet them with new vigor and a greater sense of peace. Happy to share more with you as part of your project. Good luck.
Hi AlexHi Karen,
When I walked my first Camino, I thought it was just a sportive, cultural adventure.
Along "The Way" I realized I was walking to try to heal from a trauma.
I thought I already had recovered from losing our only child, who only lived for 5 days, now 14 years ago.
By walking the Camino I found a way to go through the pain instead of around it.
Hi SteveKaren, I walked the CF in Sep-Oct of 2015 and experienced a Transformation at Cruz de Ferro. I am attaching a film I made of my experience. As you will see before getting to the shrine I was not feeling anything out of the norm, but as I approached the site a wave of emotion overtook me. I can't honestly say there was any trama involved, but it was a life changing experience.
Could you be so kind and send me your dissertation? n a n n a _ n a t a l i a at h o t m a i l dot c o mHi Karen,
I also wrote my dissertation on the topic of the Camino, so I can relate to your experience!! Best of luck to you.
I walked the Camino shortly after losing my mother, and I would definitely say that the pilgrimage served as a way for me to work through my grief. I didn’t come home “fine”; grief doesn’t work like that. But there is a catharsis in pilgrimage, and the experiences I had while on the trail were certainly healing. I would be happy to discuss this further if you would like. Feel free to email me at personal email address deleted by moderator
I was very difficult to find your reserch on facebook - can you please post a direct link to it here?Dear All
I'm interested in the transformational nature of the pilgrimage experience, as I've walked a number of pilgrimages myself in the past. So now I'm researching this for my dissertation on the MSc in Psychological Trauma at the University of Chester. Amazingly, this aspect of pilgrimage hardly appears at all in the academic literature, and it's time it did! I think this is why many of us do it to start with. I'm looking to make contact with anyone who feels their experience of walking the Camino (any route) has helped them work through some personal crisis, or highly stressful or traumatic event or situation in their lives, and who feels they've grown as a person through their struggles with whatever it was they were dealing with. This kind of personal growth is known as posttraumatic growth, but in this context, "trauma" has a much wider applicability than solely PTSD or Complex PTSD. If anyone would like more information about my research project, or would possibly be interested in being interviewed about their experience of walking the Camino, please get in touch. I have a research page on Facebook - see @KarenWilliamsResearch, and there's also an Information Sheet I can send to potential participants.
Many thanks
Karen
This research project has been approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Chester.
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