So here I am again, about to climb the Pyrenees for a third time in as many years. The Camino is funny. After completing it, it kind of fades into the background, and your brain processes it quietly. It's only later that you start to realize what it all meant. And then it creeps up on you again. Slowly at first, and then with increasing force. And you start to think, I can't possibly walk another time, can I?
But then you realize that, well, you can. And you start getting movies in your mind about what it would be to take on that walk again. Before you can fully comprehend it, you're on that train to Paris again.
And now here I am, in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. It feels familiar, almost. Although I've never spent much time here. But it's been the starting point for a great adventure twice over now. Deeply familiar, but perpetually novel. the Camino is a mirror, reflecting back the fundamental impermanence that permeates all aspects of our lives.
So of course, I need to manage my expectations. And I also feel some cognitive dissonance. I want to feel like I'm doing it for the first time. I want to be open to all that can and will happen. But it's always the first time, even if you walk the Camino multiple times. It will not be a repeat of your previous Camino. And it shouldn't be. New people, new circumstances, new weather, new blisters, new everything. Don't come here expecting an encore. To cling to expectations or seek to recreate the past is to deny the very essence of life's mystery. It is a call to cultivate a beginner's mind, free from the shackles of preconceptions, and ripe with wonder and possibility.
Each Camino is a unique journey, a fresh painting waiting to be painted with new experiences, insights, and memories. Embrace the novelty, the uncertainty, and the ever-changing nature of this pilgrimage. For it is in the unknown that we truly discover ourselves and the world around us. True experience often blooms in the fertile soil of uncertainty
(the spot where I wrote & recorded this episode)
Share this post