Parting Shot

Before we left, I was reading a book about the Camino in which the author was going on at length about "being in the moment." He related a story about how he had completed the first half of the hike up the Pyranees when he realized that he had not been paying attention to his surroundings, but had instead been fretting about a problem at home. After consulting with the group with whom he was travelling, it was agreed that he should walk back down the mountain and start again the next day as he needed to get himself "into the moment." And I did not think "Wow, what an inspiration" - I thought "Wow, what an idiot".

I have always used my hiking time to think. I´ve thought about past problems, I´ve plotted out business strategy, I´ve pulled together shopping lists - a hike is simply a great time to sort things out. But I really didn´t think about much of anything on the Camino. In spite of myself, I have to admit that it kept me pretty much in the moment. The thing about walking the Camino is that everyday it slaps you way down on Maslow [Remember Maslow´s Hierarchy of Needs? He stated that if you are deprived of basic needs such as food and shelter, your brain will be totally focused on filling this void and you won´t be able to focus on things like intellectual and emotional growth.] Every morning you get up and don´t know what is ahead of you - what the trail will be like, what new aches and pains will emerge, where you will sleep, what you will eat. This is especially true for the first couple of days. I was totally absorbed in making sure that we saw every waymarker, lest we get off the trail and end up in Sweden. When we hit a village, I scoured every face to see if the locals were friendly, or hostile or indifferent. I looked at every little shop to see what kinds of things they had to sell. When we were walking by the farms, I looked for familiar foods. My mind just took in everything around me. What happened five years ago, or will happen six months from now, was irrelevant. And it was very peaceful. I finally understood the concept of "being in the moment." As the days went by and I began to have more faith that we would be provided for, I opted to keep myself in the moment. I just observed what was in front of me, listening to the rhythm of my breath and Mark´s footfall by my side. I can honestly say that I spent of month on the road and didn´t think about a damn thing.

On the Camino, you learn that it doesn´t really take that much to move up on Maslow. After all of those years of absolutely insisting on a non-smoking, king room with wi fi and not near the elevator, I realized that I really don´t need all of that. I will never forget pulling into the albergue in Hornillos at 5:00 and being told that there were no more beds but that we could have a matress on the floor. I was elated! Not only did we not have to walk another 6 miles to the next town, but the room with mattresses only held five people, so it was better than the crowded dormitory. Life doesn´t have to be so complicated - you can be happy with very simple things.

The other thing about being on the Camino is that everyone is equal. It doesn´t matter how much education or money you have. You don´t get treated any differently because you have accrued an inordinate number of frequent flyer miles or platinum cards. Everybody experiences the same highs and lows. There are moments of true elation and tremendous pain. And your fellow travellers can see what kind of day you have and will empathize because they have been there too. There are people from all over the world on the Camino with different political points of view, different religions, and vastly divergent lifestyles. But on the Camino, you focus on the common experience - not the differences - and you feel a deep kinship with each other. As one hospitaliero told us, his greatest joy is watching 20 strangers come together for a meal every night and become "a family of the moment." I really think we ought to consider strapping backpacks on our Congressmen and White House officials and sending them out on the Camino together for a month. We´d be a better nation! (I´m leaving the Supreme Court out of this because, quite frankly, they´re pretty frail, the trip is rigorous and I don´t want to give Bush anymore appointments).

I´m a great believer in Life Lessons and since you have all hung in there for this long blog, I´ll share my Camino lesson but spare all of the details. The lesson I learned over and over again on this trip was that I really need to slow down. I have spent the better part of my life in a business where we were consistently being asked to move faster. I spent long hours trying to move as quickly as I could and I pushed those around me to do the same. What I didn´t get was that, while this is the right thing for business, it´s not necessarily applicable to other parts of your life. There are too many precious moments you miss when you´re going at 90 MPH. There are so many opportunities to enjoy, learn and share that you lose when you go too fast. The true winner in life is not the person who gets there first, but the person who gets there with a smile on their face. For those of you who know me well, you may be smiling. Quite clearly, I´ve got my work cut out to get my self to slow down but at least I´m aware of the goal.

Tomorrow we take off for Morocco for a week and then home to Boulder. We really want to thank you for taking the time to read the blog, and especially those who posted comments and sent us e-mail. It was such a joy for us to hear from you. We´ll post some more pictures when we get home. Until then, Buen Viaje.