Day 15- Survival or Spiritual

I felt real good today. The weather was perfect. The only hiccup- I took a Johnny V shortcut on my way out of town (for those of you who don’t know what that means, check out the video below). One of the things I wanted to do on this pilgrimage was to free myself of the world noise beyond what I experience on the Camino. Politics, world events, news, sports, entertainment, war, weather….- all stuff I consume with vigor at home. My connections to the world beyond the Camino are my daily talks with Carla, emailing with my Dad and the various text strings I have with different family and friend groups. Invariably, some news finds it my way. Last night I read in a text string with my college buddies that Neil Young is on tour. He plays near me the week before I return. The young me of yesteryear would have skipped the Camino or at least planned around it to catch Neil in concert as I have done for more than 40 years. He is of my favorites to see live (sorry Linda) up there with ELP, Tull and The Boss. The old me of today, and I am old, is at peace with missing the concert to focus on who I am and what I should be doing with the dwindling days I have left on earth. Rest assured I will find the playlist for the concert and spin my vinyl when I get back. Which brings me to Survival/Spiritual.

Last year’s Pilgrimage with Carla was deeply spiritual and truly fed my soul. This Pilgrimage is one of survival- so physically demanding. It dawned on me today as I walked alone, again, that without strength of spirit, I could not survive this. The real test of strength is within my soul. What keeps me from giving up? I think the answer is my soul. What feeds my soul? I think my faith does. I hope to survive this journey and in doing so strengthen my faith.