Grounded

by jphiker

Today Terri and I were discussing what the Camino has taught us. This is a very natural thing to do as we approach the end of our Camino walk. We were discussing how it has crushed some of our pride a bit and it taught us about humility. It is interesting that the humility, like the word human, comes from humus, or earth. I was thinking how humility, like earth is about “staying grounded” on the important things in life.

How did the Camino do this? Well, the Camino strips away so many of “creature comforts”. Each day you are only concerned with getting your basic needs fulfilled (food, drink, shelter, warmth, sleep) and that along with your walking for the day takes up most of the day. This happens not just for one day but for weeks!

You begin to slowly realize that a lot of the other stuff we think we “need” we really don’t. We are closer to nature each day. We hear the chickens cock-doodle-do as we head out each day, we hear the birds singing (rain or shine) and we realize how easy it is to be happy. We are grounded. We don’t need a lot more in life to be happy. We get back to “the basics” of life. We wonder if that might be how it is for many of the folks we see working the rural small Spainish farms we have walked through on the Camino.

As our Camino comes to a close tomorrow, we can not help but wonder what it will be like as we go back to “life after the Camino”. We hope to continue to hold on to some of what we have learned about life and how simple it can be to be happy.

Buen Camino!

John and Terri