Where am I? Beautiful Galicia . . . http://goo.gl/maps/ACcYV
Entry
49, January 12th,
2012
Sitting
at the border of A Coruña and Lugo right now with Master waiting for
the other two. Another magnificent, beautiful day, like Michigan in
fall or early spring. A cool, soft breeze from the North, crunch
leaves underfoot, and slanted silver light through the old forests.
Kwang-sik
and I found a strange spot this morning. A stand of pine trees had
been covered in ice in the night (I guess Galicia has freezing fog as
well) and the sun had just struck it for the first time today. The
melting ice resulted in a localized rain storm – it was pouring
down for about ten feet, while totally clear on either side. “Holy
ground?” we joked.
Kwang-sik walks
with both great faith and great love. This is why he is the fastest
and strongest of all of us, despite not having proper shoes. He
undertook the camino both because of strong faith and because he is
trying to decide if now is the time to ask his girlfriend to marry
him. Great faith and great love. His actions come from a place
beyond determination; like Lao Tzu said, “They flow from the core
of his being.”
The Master also
walks with these things. He came to the camino without speaking a
single work of Spanish or of English (!), having only great faith
that things would work out. And he has great love, both for us (he
treats us as his own children) and for his family (he showed me a
picture of his son, who is 27 and in the army). This is why he is so
strong.
What do I walk
with? Great love, certainly. My love for family and friends has
only grown and deepened since I've been away. Or rather, I've only
learned how to settle deeper and deeper into it – it already
exists. And it gives me strength – when I am at my most tired,
stressed, and fearful, I naturally turn to the faces of those I love
most.
I don't know if
I am walking with faith, although I suppose I am. As always, my
faith is in humankind's incredible potential, for both good and evil.
Perhaps this is why I am a bit weaker than Kwang-sik and Master.
But I am learning to have faith in myself, bit by bit, and so I am
getting stronger.
Later
I talked a bit
with Kwang-sik about his situation. It isn't that he's trying to
marry her, so much as he knows that something has to change in their
relationship one way or another . . . and he is trying to decide
which way that is. He is free-spirited and she is very much about
going to work and the regimented lifestyle. She is afraid of losing
him, which is why he compromised and keeps in contact with her (at
first he was going to do the camino with no phone). Personally I
think she will have to grow beyond that fear if their relationship is
going to work, but Kwang-sik sees it differently. “With the
camino, I've thought all this time that she was being selfish; but
today, I realized that maybe I am being selfish.”
He reminds me of
myself – not caring much for what one is supposed to do, but
dedicated and hardworking at what one decides to do. A free spirit,
but not a wanderer. This is why we get along so well, and I think
this is why I've been compelled to follow the Koreans. I just like
the guys, even if can communicate very little on the superficial
layer. I can tell subconsciously that they are beautiful souls.
They need very little from anyone and are quite strong, gentle, and
calm.
There is a
poster of an old engraving here in the albergue. It shows a
procession of pilgrims in antiquity – hundreds and hundreds of
them.
Tomorrow is my
last normal day. Wtf.
Expenses, Day 49
Dinner
Menú:
11.00
Albergue
(Melide): 5.00
Total:
16.00
Trip
Total: 1093.44
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