Just Walk, Again?

 Ten years ago, I walked part of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela.

If you are unfamiliar, the Camino is a pilgrimage of sorts. It began as a Catholic journey across northern Spain, but today there are many routes, many reasons, and many kinds of people who walk it. Some go for faith. Some for clarity. Some just because something in them says, go.

I chose to walk the final 100 miles of the original path, the Camino Francés, which starts in France and stretches about 480 miles to Santiago de Compostela. Weather had other plans, and I ended up walking closer to 80 miles.

At the time, I remember thinking,“Okay, I did that… and I will NEVER do that again.”

And yet here I am, ten years later, thinking about going back. Maybe starting in France this time. Two of my kids are already in. They walked it with me the first time, and something about it stayed with them too.

That’s the thing about experiences like this. They don’t always feel good while you are in them. But they leave something behind.

The Camino was not easy. Blisters. Fatigue. Moments of questioning why you signed up for this in the first place.

our guidance, the famous shell and arrow

And yet, how many of us are walking Caminos of our own every day?

Trying to figure something out. Working through a challenge. Moving forward when we would rather stop.

There were plenty of times on the Camino where I told myself, just keep walking. Don’t stop until we reach our Airbnb. If I stopped, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get up again. Who knew that walking downhill could hurt more than walking uphill?

What I didn’t realize at the time was how much the Camino mirrors what I experience with horses.

On the Camino, if you push too hard, your body lets you know. With a horse, if you push too hard, the relationship lets you know. Both require presence. You have to pay attention. To your footing. To your energy. To what is happening right now, not five miles ahead. Because five miles ahead doesn’t matter if you trip on the rock right in front of you.

The Camino and working with horses humble me in similar ways. They remind me that:

I cannot fix everything.

Some things are just hard.

I cannot rush the outcome.

And sometimes, the only thing to do is keep walking. And maybe that’s the lesson I didn’t fully understand ten years ago.

Just walk, again!