Camino Thoughts:) - 2nd Last One

I'll admit that as we approach the end of the physical preparation it gets harder to motivate ourselves to train over the same routes even though we mix it up with new routes as much as our imaginations and time will permit. Clearly we have completed our physical preparation to the best of our abilities with one remaining hike planned for tomorrow; 24kms, full packs...and happily lunch along the way.  Interestingly, somewhere along the way we seem to have transitioned to more of the inner preparation...a very subtle, but necessary change.

As per Annemarie's post "Camino Thoughts:)", I have been coming across quotes and inspirational bits for quite some time. I usually email them to her office on Friday mornings to hopefully provide motivation or simply a source of discussion for the weekend of walking to come. I have posted a few of these on this blog, and thought I'd add one more to the mix because whoever wrote this piece captures something of where we find ourselves today, only a week out from departing.

I found the following conversational thread on-line while doing some research and saved a part of it to share with Annemarie as we neared the end of our preparations. Its a reply from an experienced Camino type to a novice walker who was questioning his/her own ability to undertake the Camino just a couple of weeks prior to departing from Ireland...not too sure about the "demons" part, unless of course they are referring to trying to get out of bed each morning to start walking...yet again.  This should spark a good discussion tomorrow!

"Remember, the Camino is a pilgrimage, not a hike, and so by definition it is an inner journey or quest. Yes, you need to make the physical preparations, but that’s not really what you are bringing to the Camino. You are carrying doubts and fears which weigh you down more than anything in your backpack. And they are beginning to reveal themselves to you now – which is a good thing – because they are giving you the opportunity to heal them, not be debilitated by them. There is a reason the Camino is called the “Way of the Sword”. It’s the place where you battle your demons and find your strength. And you stepped on that Way the moment you decided to make this pilgrimage.

So take heart. Stop preparing the physical. I’m sure that’s more than ready. Take time now to prepare your heart, your soul, to walk. Meditate, journal, make peace with your fears. Your heart is what will lead you on the Camino. IT is the yellow arrow that you are truly following. The destination outwardly may be the Cathedral at Santiago de Compostela, but the true destination of this pilgrimage is at the heart of your own inner self."

- Anonymous Pelegrino