Camino Lessons Already Learned

The preparations made over the last five months will ‘go live’ two weeks from today when I depart Seattle for the Camino. Yet so many Camino lessons have already become a new way of living. I’ve learned that slowing down the pace of my life while increasing my time away from work and home has actually made me more productive and content. I feel more fully alive and not tied to a life of ‘have to dos’. In learning to slow down I am more present with each moment. Once on the Camino, my intention is to continue this pace without the thoughts of how much further I need to walk for the day or to complete the Camino. I haven’t even booked a return flight so that I can stay present with the experience without feeling a need hurry.

Once I made the decision to walk the Camino, I’ve looked forward to the unknowns in my practice walks – the challenges – and have practiced living with the spirit of discovery. Each time I left my home on a walk I wondered, “How long with this walk take?” “How hard will the extra miles be?” “What terrain will I be walking on this new trail?” “Will I get a blister?” then reframed those questions to the experience and wonder of sights and sounds around me; and, the wonder of how my body continues to get stronger and stronger – supporting my goal and this adventure.

Webster’s dictionary has many definitions of adventure, and this one resonated with me:

“A remarkable occurrence in one’s personal history, a stirring experience….”

My walking and preparations have provided momentous signals to go forth in trust and have confidence that the treasures of the road are available to me. Preparing for the Camino has helped me to see that every day is an adventure because every day is new. We have not lived that day before. Each part of my day is unknown until I live it. Living this way has kept my days fresh, invigorating, alive and inviting. There’s something quite wonderful about stepping out each morning with a sense of adventure instead of a dread of work or apathetic approach to what the day holds.

Living in the now is when we are not focused on what happened in the past, nor what we anticipate to happen in the future, and focus solely on this present experience (or adventure). Eckhart Tolle in his book, The Power of Now, teaches that true inner liberation only happens when we are present in each moment. While I read that book over 10 years ago, and it sits on my book shelf for reference, I believe I have only recently been able to integrate it fully. Each difficulty I have encountered during my preparations has brought an awareness, a challenge to grow and an opportunity to be grateful.

“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have.”
Eckhart Tolle

I’m writing this post to remind myself to continue the practice of staying present throughout the whole Camino and to let the beauty around me be a central source of connection with the sacred, revitalizing each step that I take.