Opening

Well hello there! Namaste and thank you for joining me on this journey. Currently I am on the Camino Frances and am trying to post one update per day, including photos. I should have set up this blog 11 days ago (or maybe even 11 years ago) because although using a Whatsapp group is an intimate method of sharing, it is not meant to be used as I have been…namely sharing a gazillion photos of my Camino. Bling! bling! bling times 30 per day as each photo comes in! (Sorry about that). Sooo, on a whim, using the wifi at the Ponferrada bus station I downloaded the WordPress app, linked a domain name I’ve had waiting to be a book title and here we are! Perhaps I will post my thoughts and photos of the first 11 days of my Camino experience at some point. For now I am in Sarria, Spain and tomorrow I begin the final 100 km to Santiago… I called this post Opening for many reasons. Here are a few: 1. I found a pine cone near the beginning of my Camino and have been carrying it with me. It began to open and open and open as each day went by. It became a metaphor of what was happening for me with each step, each experience, each day. I left that pine cone with my prayers at the Iron Cross yesterday. 2. As per above, just like the pine cone, I’m opening on the Camino. Or the Camino is opening me 😉 3. We are walking through wide open spaces, mountains and valleys, along rivers and through forests. Sometimes on narrow paths or paths covered by trees, but they always open into the great big wide open sky. 4. Deep connections are forged in a very short time on the Camino. People are open and sharing a unique and powerful experience. 5. I came with no expectations…just being open to what reveals itself. 6. Albergues – and restos and bars – open themselves to pilgrims. 7. Yesterday, just after the Iron Cross I had an insight about opening my heart wider, sharing what I have more freely, connecting with my vulnerability, sparking my creativity, Be-ing my biggest best Self without shame, guilt or apology – and this blog is part of that. So I thank you for the precious time you’ve taken to read this, and to Be witness to this, to me. Buen Camino! Xo Om shanti! Hari Om! Gratitude! Post script: I would like to acknowledge Melissa, who came up with the name RnR2B&S while we were going through my archives a few years ago. I love it and it aptly describes my path in a few words.