I've been home about a week, having completed my pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. I haven't written anything as of yet, mainly because I'm still trying to process just exactly what it is I've done. Sure, I know I crossed the entire country of Spain by foot, via France, about 800 km's. I've climbed and descended a couple of mountains. I've had knee injuries, self diagnosed tendonitis, blisters of mammoth proportions, and developed a fierce relationship to any wine from the Rioja region. I awoke daily, not really knowing where I was, but that only I knew I was to walk. I didn't really know where it was I was going, how many kilometers I would cover, or what town I would spend that night. I only knew that I would head west, toward the all consuming goal to reach Santiago. It became quite comforting to be so focused. A determination or will that I've never recognized in myself. And I think I've just now come to the realization that this determination has been here all along, in me. Why it took a 37 day walk across Spain to see this, I have no idea. Maybe it was the countless hours I've spent just looking, thinking, being aware of the present. Certainly trying not to ponder the past, nor to plan for the future, but rather, just to BE. I thought (pre Camino) that cancer was the toughest thing I had gone through, but I now know I was wrong. My pilgrimage by far was the most toughest complicated thing I've ever accomplished in my life... hands down... no contest. And I think the reason I was able to complete this goal of mine, is because of the people who I met along the way. These amazing people that are soooo different from me, and yet so similar. These people that I will probably never see again, (although I certainly hope to) reminded me of what its like to enjoy life, and to remind me that it's okay to not take life too seriously. I'm so grateful to have met these other pilgrims. Coming from countries such as Italy, France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Palestine, Israel, USA, Australia, and of course Canada. In a lot of ways these people gave me just the right amount of encouragement to finish what I set out to do.
So, will things go back to "normal", now that I'm home. I hope not. I hope I'm changed enough that this experience stays with me forever. Enough that it reminds me what an incredible gift life really is, and to recognize that fact daily.... and to never take this "wonderful" world for granted.
