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<P>WOW! I just applied this email to my "holiday life." Keeping it light! </P>
<P>Happy Holidays, Amigos!</P>
<P><BR><BR> </P></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>>From: lin galea <CAMINANTE93aHOTMAIL.COM>
<DIV></DIV>>Reply-To: Road to Santiago Pilgrimage <GOCAMINOaPETE.URI.EDU>
<DIV></DIV>>To: GOCAMINOapete.uri.edu
<DIV></DIV>>Subject: Re: book re the spiritual aspect
<DIV></DIV>>Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 09:49:44 -0700
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Dear Donald,
<DIV></DIV>>thank you for the interesting references to the spiritual aspects of
<DIV></DIV>>the
<DIV></DIV>>camino:
<DIV></DIV>>I had much the same feelings about my backpack. I spent the first
<DIV></DIV>>week
<DIV></DIV>>unloading but unable to let some of the things go. I carried them
<DIV></DIV>>around
<DIV></DIV>>for about a week intending to mail them off. I never could find a
<DIV></DIV>>post
<DIV></DIV>>office open. Finally, one morning in Najera I let them go and
<DIV></DIV>>walked on. I
<DIV></DIV>>was very tired that day and walked alone so that no one could see
<DIV></DIV>>the tears
<DIV></DIV>>streaming down my face. By the time I had reached Villafranca I
<DIV></DIV>>could ot
<DIV></DIV>>imagine giving up my back pack to Jato to take up to the top for me.
<DIV></DIV>> It was
<DIV></DIV>>part of me. At the same time, I too loved the simplicity and order
<DIV></DIV>>of
<DIV></DIV>>having everything I needed in such a small container.
<DIV></DIV>>When I returned home, I began an ongoing process of unloading stuff.
<DIV></DIV>> First
<DIV></DIV>>my closet --I got rid of everything but a few Items that I loved to
<DIV></DIV>>wear.
<DIV></DIV>>Then old books, etc. Also, while on the Camino, I had lost about a
<DIV></DIV>>quarter
<DIV></DIV>>of my total weight. Letting go ws defiitely a big camino lesson for
<DIV></DIV>>me.
<DIV></DIV>>lin galea
<DIV></DIV>>san francisco
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>her way to Santiago - the changing way the same writer talks about
<DIV></DIV>>Encounter
<DIV></DIV>>and Prayer, the Back pack, sellos/stmps, staff, etc. at before the
<DIV></DIV>>journey,
<DIV></DIV>>at Vezalay, at Roncesvalles, at Santiago, and back home, also her
<DIV></DIV>>changing
<DIV></DIV>>responses to the words, "Road," "Walking," "Water," and "Earth,"
<DIV></DIV>>which have
<DIV></DIV>>become, by the end of the Camino, full of new spiritual meaning for
<DIV></DIV>>her. I
<DIV></DIV>>immediately recognized the transformations of these objects and
<DIV></DIV>>images in
<DIV></DIV>>the pilgrim's experience. The changes were subtle, but important,
<DIV></DIV>>two
<DIV></DIV>>examples (and I'm quoting from the book here):
<DIV></DIV>>Backpack-
<DIV></DIV>>Before the journey: how to keep it as light as possible. I always
<DIV></DIV>>leave
<DIV></DIV>>things behind that cannot be carried. Still this one is going to
<DIV></DIV>>weigh
<DIV></DIV>>heavy.
<DIV></DIV>>Vezelay: still a heavy weight, I will have to leave even more behind
<DIV></DIV>>Roncesvalles: a burden one never gets used to, but it belongs to the
<DIV></DIV>>journey
<DIV></DIV>>Santiago de Compostela: Started getting used to it on the camino.
<DIV></DIV>>With only
<DIV></DIV>>the backpack life was better ordered, than with all the superfluous
<DIV></DIV>>luggage
<DIV></DIV>>we had earlier when the car drove along
<DIV></DIV>>back home: putting it on was quite a ritual, before leaving. From a
<DIV></DIV>>burden
<DIV></DIV>>it became a part of myself, sticking (literally and symbolically) to
<DIV></DIV>>my
<DIV></DIV>>back. How well-ordered life was, walking with only my backpack.
<DIV></DIV>>Two years later: how wonderful it is being able to live with so few
<DIV></DIV>>possessions.
<DIV></DIV>>Staff-
<DIV></DIV>>Before the journey: Maybe I will need it, but not from the start.
<DIV></DIV>>Vezelay: Symbol, still no useful instrument for me.
<DIV></DIV>>Roncesvalles: an Aid on small, rocky roads.
<DIV></DIV>>Santiago de Compostela: Indispensable for the sloops and descents.
<DIV></DIV>>When we
<DIV></DIV>>had to cross small rivers. I found it difficult to accept that I
<DIV></DIV>>had used
<DIV></DIV>>it as a clothes-line
<DIV></DIV>>Back Home: My support, my third leg, became part of me. Why did I
<DIV></DIV>>leave it
<DIV></DIV>>on the way home in the train. A support, also emotionally.
<DIV></DIV>>Two years later: Symbol of holding on, going on.
<DIV></DIV>>(The Modern Pilgrim, p. 211)
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>I'm glad for the question and hope we can come up with more
<DIV></DIV>>resources. It's
<DIV></DIV>>the part of our sharing that important practical questions and
<DIV></DIV>>swapping of
<DIV></DIV>>happy stories can crowd out. I suspect it's also something most of
<DIV></DIV>>us want
<DIV></DIV>>to find some way to talk about.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>love,
<DIV></DIV>>donald
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
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