A year ago on 22 September, I began walking Camino Frances (from St Jean Pied-de-Port, France to Santiago, Spain).
What a year it has been!
What a year it has been!
In a nutshell...a lot more clearing on different levels. Walking for 64 days from sleeping place to sleeping place on Camino Frances and Camino Fisterre, with just me, what I was wearing, my backpack, and other pereginos - gave me the sense when I returned to my home - continue to clear whatever I do not use or need. Definitely felt the energy of that when I returned to my home during January, after being away for 5 months. Everything there was mine! AND I had done just fine without it all for 5 months!
AHHH, the journey, the Camino continues. One filled with ups and downs. Stops and starts. Action and reflection. Doing and being. Amazing to notice to this day...how easy or how hard it is for me to discard an item, a belief, a habit. All Good for I continue to learn! To discern!
Definitely acquiring only what I will use either now or very soon thereafter, is a fabulous-o habit I now have. That includes, as a friend and I noted the other day....saying “no” to free anything or items that are offered to me that I will not use right away -- newspapers, samples, plastic bags (Nancy are you reading this :-), posters, pamphlets….
And the best part of all my clearing -- I cleared out whatever fears, doubts, resistances I had around living with a partner. Since I returned, Tom, Benny the 8-year old black Labrador, and I were living together either here at my home or there at his home. And we decided that my home is our home. For someone who believed I would live solo for the rest of my life, this is a HUGE letting go! And a HUGE trusting!
And this adventure continues. I read this recently..."When we open the door to living within a broader community, we also open the door to the hidden recesses of our own processes. Issues that rarely arose in the privacy of our personal lives, issues that we had become adept at sidestepping, or those we thought we had dealt with suddenly emerge in glaring detail. It can be a shock to find yourself staring in the mirror at a behavior that is far below your well-established personal standards. At times like this, you need to accept your failing with grace and compassion and at the same time appreciate the rare gift you have been offered of a clear reflection into your soul." pg 222 The Community of Kindness.
Tom and I have been given the rare gifts of being mirrors for each other. I definitely remember this as we laugh and love our way through life's ups and downs. And try to remember that when our conversations go south. Or I throw out a few snide comments. We are both blessed to be partners in Life's adventures!
Anywho….grateful for all the guidance and support I’ve gotten and will get as I continue to let go of the clutter as Julie Morgenstern defines it…."Any obsolete object, space, committment, or behavior that weighs you down, distracts you, or depletes your energy." (pg 36, When Organizing Isn"t Enough, SHED Your Stuff, Change Your Life by Julie Morgenstern).
Clearing definitely leads to clarity! DUHHH!
Clearing definitely leads to clarity! DUHHH!
Small things often, make a difference. John Gottman
Here's a photo of Tom and I "playing tourist" on a beautiful weather day along The Bay!
Buen Camino!
Here's a photo of Tom and I "playing tourist" on a beautiful weather day along The Bay!
Buen Camino!
