A Calling

Last week, while attending Winnipeg’s monthly Camino Coffee evening – a lively rendezvous of seasoned and perspective pilgrims (Join us! Everyone is welcome!), I was asked, once again, why I decided to walk the Camino. For the first time ever I was able to sum it up with a quick and concise response: “It wasn’t a decision – I was called.” I was then asked the question, “Why did you decide to write a book?”. My answer was the same.

These were not things I planned on doing. But in both cases there was a quiet nagging, a  persistent unrest, that would not allow me to go on without acknowledging the need first to walk and then to write. The writing of this book was so far off my radar that, ironically, I pledged that I would not take pictures, put pen to paper or do anything other than rely on the experience of the Camino itself to leave an impression on me while I walked. I therefore have no images, no documentation and very little concrete evidence that I was even there. I am relying on my photographic memory, some pieced-together texts and a widely-opened heart to serve as my proof. I am relieved to report that I was right – this is all I need to tell the story. It is inside of me, waiting to be recalled. Waiting to be transformed into words.  Waiting to transform its readers. Just as the experience transformed me.

Let the journey begin.