In April of 2012 I left Virginia to start a long walk across Spain called the Camino de Santiago, the Way of St. James. The body of St. James, apostle of Jesus is said to be entombed in Santiago. People are called Pilgrims once they start this spiritual journey. Thousands of pilgrims over centuries have taken paths from all over Europe to reach Santiago. The purpose of my journey was to have some solitude with my thoughts, get out of my comfort zone, and reevaluate my life.
I’d been a nurse all my adult career life. I knew nothing else. I loved nursing and I was/am good at it. But my heart just kept saying there’s more. I was restless and looking for something, anything to bring some peace to this whisper inside me.
The Camino offered me that chance to explore my thoughts and ideas with the daily expectations pared down to where my feet take me each day. The only thing I had to do was get up in the morning and put my boots on and walk. I had no idea where each step would take and the only instruction for directions to get to Santiago was the yellow arrows along the way.
I landed in Paris and spent some time exploring the city of lights. It was a magical city for me. I spent an entire day roaming the rooms inside the Louvre. Standing in front of the Mona Lisa painting gave me a deep sense of serendipitous joy. How did the Indiana farm girl raised by her grandmother get here?
Follow along on my journey across Spain and the new life that walk gave me.
