Two Sleeps To Go!

[BobM]

Hola a todos!

I will be on the road from SJPDP on May 18. Looking forward to meeting fellow peregrinos and peregrinas on the way to Santiago.

I have the load (excl water, food) down to 6.5kg now, after quite a few hardening walks and repackings.

Successively discarding "essentials" each time becomes easier and quite zen-like. What is the real meaning of this object? What purpose does it really serve? How can I make my camino less cluttered with physical stuff? More importantly, how can I make life in general less focused on objects and stuff?

Why take two spare shoe laces? One is enough. Take a controlled risk, will both break before you can get a piece of cord?!

Anyway, I may checkin here along the way for more philosophical musings!

Hasta luega

Bob M

 

[Anonymous]

Why take two spare shoe laces? One is enough.

Why a spare shoe lace? Best, xm 8)

 

[BobM]

A perceptive observation!

Why a spare shoe lace? Best, xm 8)

An excellent point! I am in the throes of the final packing as I write, and may well discard even my final spare shoelace.

What is there to fear? Nada! I have cord that would serve in a pinch.

The weight is nothing - it is the philosophical meaning and insight from self-examination that is important.

In life we all balance risks and benefits every day, very often without thinking because of our psychological makeup.

Even a simple shoelace can force us to examine where we fit along the risk-aversion scale. Why does one feel it is necessary to take even one shoelace when the risk of breakage is very slight and alternatives are almost certainly available close at hand.

Question everything. Peel off the layers of accreted objects and beliefs and we will come to inner truth and inner simplicity - and possibly even discover inner peace.

Regards

Bob M

 

[Anonymous]

BOBM-What is the real meaning of this object? What purpose does it really serve? How can I make my camino less cluttered with physical stuff? More importantly, how can I make life in general less focused on objects and stuff? U give us needed food for thought. Thanks, xm 8)

 

[BobM]

BOBM-What is the real meaning of this object? What purpose does it really serve? How can I make my camino less cluttered with physical stuff? More importantly, how can I make life in general less focused on objects and stuff? U give us needed food for thought. Thanks, xm 8)

I plan to write lots more after (and maybe during) my Camino, when perhaps I may have earned some credibility, but here are a few quick thoughts in between final departure preparations.

I am not taking any spare shoelaces now (see your/my earlier posts .

Let me use spare shoelaces as a further example. We toss them in without a thought because they weigh nothing and "might be needed". They come in pairs, so we never even question taking only one (that's eccentric out-of-the-square behavior indeed :lol: ). We are bound by the hidden persuaders of conventional thought in all sorts of ways.

Then there is the question "why do I feel need this item?" The first layer of explanation is you take spare laces for simple utility - the others might break! Look deeper and peel off more layers hiding the deeper truths. There is the mental security of having a backup. Deeper down may be a fear of stepping into the unknown. Layer by layer, the truth of ourselves is revealed. Not wrong, not right, not good, not bad - just simple truth.

Much of life once we are no longer children is a slow accretion of conventional thought, societal conditioning, materialism that imprison us as surely as any gaol. Only it is the mind and heart that are behind the bars of our thinking and obstruct our pursuit of "happiness".

So my first tip on the road to enlightenment or self-awareness is to question everything to tease out the hidden persuaders that might be making decisions for us.

Use packing the rucksack and discarding all but the truly essential as an opportunity for reflection.

BTW, happiness is a very mis-understood concept, but more on that huge topic another time.

Regards

Bob M

 

[Mercury]

Hi Bob

Well my first thought on reading your post was to be jealous that your pack is so light. I look forward to going through my own (further) examination process as I progress through my walk.

Will I throw out the non essential dress that has snuck into my pack or will I enjoy a reminder of my femininity - who knows. But I know I will be thinking about it before and after I depart on Sat.

Buen Camino

Mercury
(keep an eye out for me, I'm the one with the Aarn backpack)

 

[PEI-les]

Hi Bob,
I wish you a great Camino,I started out on May the 18th last year,
from Roncesvalles and only had one day of rain,it was "welcome to Galicia
day",hope you have the same luck!
I think I would throw in half a shoelace just in case...could come in use-ful for many things.......Buen Camino,Les

 

[Anonymous]

Hello Bob,

I hesitated on sending u this one to the forum instead of a PM.

In the end I thought, what the heck, there may be like-minded pilgrims here who share what I will call ur sense of spirituality, for lack of a better or more adequate term, and that may enjoy/benefit reading more about ur feelings and thoughts as u go through ur Camino.

I for one do, and I hope you continue writing about them.

And am saying this not only because of ur latest post, but of previous ones u've posted that have given me much food for thought. For that I thank you.

Credibility you seem to have had from the moment you decided to do the pilgrimage, my friend, I wouldn't worry too much about that.

I wish you the best, safest, Road, and that this seemingly most profound experience that you're already going through takes you to unimaginable heights.

Buen Camino, peregrino,

xm 8)

 

[marktqm]

Have you guys ever heard of the term Gross National Happiness, in lieu of Gross National Product?

Can it be real? This is what attracts me to visit and trek Bhutan, where tigers live.

Mark