Wooooohoooooooooooo!
Happy dancing!
I actually screamed with amazed delight, totally overjoyed when I got their email.
News! I got in!*
Category: Life after the Camino
Anticip-ay-ay-tion – waiting for news about a writing class
I’m feeling nervous and excited this week in equal turns.
Yes, I promise the Camino plot will continue later this week–this upcoming post is a particularly sticky one to write for personal reasons, so I’m working with it gently.
In the meantime, I’m requesting your prayers, good vibes, and positive juju (whichever camp you fall into) for the best possible outcome in a new quest: I’ve applied for a week-long Master Class at Hedgebrook Writers Retreat to develop my abilities as a non-fiction writer.
Continue reading “Anticip-ay-ay-tion – waiting for news about a writing class”
The post-Camino process and new developments in my life
Ever since I took that hike to Cascade Head, I’ve been gradually coming out of a year-long post-Camino funk. I’ve been reading a lot and talking to others about the muddled sadness that can follow an intense life experience and the choices that aid in coping and thriving. Whether completing service in the Peace Corps, doing a tour of duty, or ending a long-distance walk like the Pacific Crest Trail, people seem to be affected in similar ways afterward.
Wow!
First there’s elation of having accomplished something so momentous in terms of time, effort, and impact. The achievement creates a glow around the person–especially if the experience ended positively.
What? Continue reading “The post-Camino process and new developments in my life”
Post-Camino insight: Solvitur ambulando
To be completely honest, writing this blog and sticking to descriptions of what happened each day is much easier than trying to make sense of what happened after my Camino. But I want to try.
Lately I’ve been reading Jack Kornfield’s book, After the Ecstasy, the Laundry. In it I learned that peak spiritual experiences are often followed by serious doubt, angst, and depression. Reading his wise words is bringing me reassurance that the feelings I’ve had this last year are completely normal.
Taking a hike and remembering Finisterre
Finishing is hardly ever a cut-and-dried event for me. I completed my Camino in stages, like layers of an onion, narrowing down toward the essence of the journey. Arriving in Santiago was the first layer, then arriving in the cathedral square, then attending Mass and receiving my compostella certificate, but the walk for me was always about Finisterre. The true end of the road.
I’ll write more about that actual arrival in a later post, but these last seven weeks I have been reading my journal from last year, day by day, remembering as much detail as I can. This past Sunday was the day Meg and I walked out to the tiny spit of land, piles of massive stones jutting out into the Atlantic. There, my Camino journey came to an end.
Jen's Journey - Camino de Santiago 2013, 2016, & 2019 