Saturday, February 23, 2008

Round 2

It was easy to make this decision. Since I returned from my first Camino, the Camino Frances (see other blog), I have not had a moment where that experience has not popped up in my thoughts. I belong to several forums which I check several times daily to see what others are writing about and now I am participating as a veteran pilgrim.
As a result, and understanding now why others walk across Spain more than once, I have decided to go again. Yes it was only last August when I started over the Pyrenees to head to Santiago and Finisterra but I feel a strong calling to go back.
I remember when people here in Tallahassee that I knew talked about earth changes and how so many people were moving to North Carolina to start communities so that they could build camaraderie and live together.... and now I feel a bit like that. Like I have a community of pilgrims from all over the world who feel compelled to live and relive this Pilgrimage.
A basic human need to belong is in all of us. As a midwife I teach the importance of community to my families, so that as they bring babies into the world they feel supported. I help them by becoming aware of this need and giving tips on how to do it. I belong to that community, and just as I have given I have also received.
But now I have a new community. Although it exists over the internet, I have a sense of belonging that supports and helps me to justify this crazy need to walk across Spain!
I got my ticket, and I am leaving April 27th, arriving April 28th in Madrid. Then I will head south to Sevilla where I will walk over a different Camino, the Via de la Plata. This one is a little bit longer, almost 1000 kilometers. I will walk with the same joy as I did before... I will walk and meet others like me.... I will sleep with them, eat and share wine with them... talk, share stories and be in love with them... I will be alone, I will think, I will sing, I will pray, I will probably cry at some point, I will do so much...

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