To Ease the Passing of Time

On the Camino de Santiago or the Pilgrimage of Compostela, known in English as the Way of St James, you can choose to always walk alone, or you can decide to walk with someone that you have met on the way for a while. This gives you the chance to share the reasons that brought you there and what you are looking for by doing this pilgrimage. It is also an opportunity to talk about what is essential for both of you without having to go through the usual small talk. It brings you comfort and joy. You know that you are not alone in your spiritual journey. 

After a while, because either you don’t walk at the same pace or you realize that you are there for different reasons, or simply because you feel that you should go back to your own thoughts, you may decide that it would be better for both of you to go your separate ways. You then go back to your solitude, but you carry in your heart and in your mind, for a while or forever, the words and the thoughts that your companion has shared with you. You resume your lonely walk through the forests and the fields, by the rivers and the lakes, in the sun or in the rain, until maybe, or maybe not, after your mind has settled, you meet someone else to walk and talk with for another while.

The Camino de Santiago is a lot like life. It is a long walk through joy and sadness, ups and downs, hope and despair; it is also an everlasting search for answers and meaning. And just like on the Camino, if you are lucky, you may find someone with whom to share your expectations and your dreams, and the little wisdom you have gained.

I have never been on the Camino myself, but I have met a few people who went there and told me about it. I think that there are many similarities between that pilgrimage and life in general if, of course, looking for answers and meaning is part of your life. If not, you might as well go to Las Vegas or Disneyworld.