tattoos

[Elyn Aviva]

Just an observation. I remember talking with my dear friend Paca, the
matriarch of my "family" in Sahagun, and she and her daughter were commenting
about how strange, weird, and horrible it was that some pilgrims caused their
bodies so much pain and suffering! They were referring to the huge blisters,
the damaged joints, the assorted wounds to body parts that some pilgrims not
only experienced but, they thought, seemed to take pride in. "Why do people
DO that to themselves," they asked in sincere puzzlement--referring to people
who kept walking when they should have put their bandaged feet up for a few
days!

The point is: we all do things to our bodies that other people might think
inappropriate. So who are we to judge what is, or isn't, a proper
mortification? Or an "improper" mortification? We each choose to carry the
markings of the Camino on our bodies in different ways.

Buen Camino,
Elyn