Sunday, October 28, 2012

Walking through Life - Making sense of the Camino

It is now 30 months since walking the Camino from St. Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela. I think about this journey every day. It may not be like an addiction in the conventional meaning of the word. Perhaps it is more accurate to describe it as something that has helped me engage in life. I am towards completion of a book on the Camino. I have entitled it for now as "Walking through Life - making sense of the Camino - a journey- a life journey - a life" I consider that the journey itself is not separable from life. The whole title may be too long. However, I will listen to the advice of a publisher. It is spiritual autobiography, pilgrimage, reflection and voyage of self-exploration. As a significant part of what I do as a profession, it is also a book about health, well-being, shiatsu, massage therapy, alternative or complementary therapy and about the hospice work that I do with those who are dying. I love the many metaphors of a journey such as this. We carry baggage through life. If it is too heavy it breaks us both physically and mentally. Our early formative years as babies, we learn to hold on. As we get towards the end of our life, we have to learn how to let go. Confusing isn't it?