A Pilgrim's Progress: 2012

Sunday, June 3, 2012

What can happen to you?

According to pilgrims' priest, Hans-Erik Lindstrøm, a lot can happen to you after a pilgrimage:

A feeling of freedom sneaks into your life. You start to question the value, the necessity of routines, structures, goals, aims etc.
You free yourself of stress symptoms, unease and inner frustrations. A long, monotonous pilgrim's wandering might help you to slow down.
You learn to live with what you have and own. A simple lifestyle goes hand-in-hand with a worry-free life.
Your five senses are sharpened. You register and take in whatever you encounter in a new way. You learn to live in the moment.
With space for prayer, meditation and reflection, conversations that matter more take place more.
You have a new experience to share with others.
You have a new tone in your voice, in your relations with others.
The group you share your new experiences with is enriched.
Your body enjoys the physical endeavor of the pilgrimage.
You get time for yourself and for others.
Your inner and outer journeys are better integrated.

The seven keys

According to the pilgrims' priest, Hans Erik Lindstrøm,
(see his book "Pilgrimsliv- en håndbok for vandrere")
there are seven keys to any pilgrimage:

1) slowing down

2) freedom

3) simplicity

4) freedom from worry

5) quietness

6) sharing

7) spirituality.

SLOWING DOWN

When one is always in a hurry, there is neither time nor space for increasing the quality of life or reflection. The rhythm of a physical pilgrimage provides time for breaks, for oneself, for contemplation. One can eat in a normal tempo. One can sit quietly and listen when being talked to. One need not be updated on all breaking news. One can live in the moment.

FREEDOM

Pick up your pilgrim's stave and wander free as a bird. You may wander at your own pace. You can rest when you want. You have time to make new friends. You have time to be alone. You can sleep wherever you choose, when you are tired. You are not a slave to your calendar.

SIMPLICITY

Instead of being stuck in the treadmill of needing and wanting objects and things, one is forced, as a pilgrim to focus on what is really necessary. After all, you will be carrying it on your own back. What do you need apart from good shoes, a broadbrimmed hat, a stave and a knapsack? At our first albergue, I looked at the shelf with stuff which people had left behind and which anyone could help themself to. I wish I had taken a photo of the shelf. There were books, all sorts of toiletries, sewing equipment, sleeping mats, sleeping bags etc.

FREEDOM FROM WORRY

Is it possible to have freedom from worry? How many of our current worries are connected to long term plans? A pilgrim tends to live in the moment, for the moment, for the day. Carpe Diem. And see what the day will bring.

QUIETNESS AND SILENCE
The quietness of the churches one visits immediately transports one to an inner space we seldom see or hear in the hustle and bustle of our daily lives. What we find there differs from pilgrim to pilgrim, but it is unique and special for each one. We find the same space also when we walk in silence, alone or together with others.

SHARING

"The camino provides" - was something we had heard about before we left. Pilgrims share their stories and the few items they carry. Freely. With empathy. We are all in the same boat. One day it could be your own self needing help from someone else.

SPIRITUALITY

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,

Than are dreamt in your philosophy" (Hamlet).

What might "more things" be? A pilgrimage might give you the answer.

Outer and inner journeys

After the pilgrims' mass at Roncevalles

The priest at Roncevalles, the start of our camino,

told us that the physical journey we were about to embark on

was not the main journey to Santiago de Compostela;

it was the inner journey which was the most important.

The outer, physical journey is a method

to start the inner journey.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Skyscapes

Landscapes

Giant puppets in Logrono

From the tapas bar

Donna Elvira's house

More love on the camino

Delicate

These looked like they were made of crepe paper.

Siesta

The only people walking around during the siesta are the pilgrims.

Churches along the camino

Doors

One door shuts.....

...another opens.

Pilgrim solidarity

In days of yore, pilgrims used to travel together in small groups
to protect themselves from the dangers on the camino.
Today, pilgrims do not need to travel in this manner.
However, pilgrim solidarity is still underlined everyday:
we share the day's hardships and joys on the camino every evening over dinner,
we share the goodies we carry on our backs...
In the above photo, some pilgrims share
the latest in Korean blister technology with a pilgrim in need.

Villages de charme

Not only were the villages charming, they were also very clean.

Either the Spaniards are well behaved and throw their rubbish in bins,

or their local municipalities somehow manage to prioritize the cleaning of streets,

despite the crisis in the economy.

At the end of the tunnel....

...awaits the camino.

Shadow from the sun

Another thing to be thankful for.....

Laundry

Pilgrims are thankful for small things like....

...the possibility to do laundry.

Be prepared for stormy weather

More flowers along the camino

Rioja vinyards

One advantage of walking through the Rioja district was that

even the wine that came with the pilgrims' menu was great.

Slow travel

The snail travels at, well, snail's pace.
And it carries all it owns on its back.
Walking the camino forces one to hop off the rat race and to slow down.
Slowing down allows for new perspectives;
your senses take in what would have been lost in the multitasking treadmill
many of us get stuck on.
In addition, you get a chance to surprise yourself - maybe slowing down will give you
new insight in your blind spots?

And carrying your stuff on your back certainly forces you to rethink the definition of what your needs are. The smart motto when packing is: if in doubt, leave it behind.

Maybe "Slow Travel" will be the natural extension of the "Slow Food" movement?