Pilgrims Way

A friend’s special playlist, cards from her sister, and attending online services at her home church were the unexpected gifts that motivated and encouraged a pilgrim throughout her journey.

A woman learns to listen to her inner voice on Camino. Back home with a head cold, that same inner voice inspires her to create a healing blend of spices that opens her sinus passages and opens herself to possibilities.

Seeking a journey of rebirth, a man embarks on Camino. Along the way, the number 13 surfaces and resurfaces in unexpected ways, not superstitiously but as a reminder that we can always begin again

As a woman embarks on Camino, a friend passes on to her a scarf the friend had rescued while on Camino in 2010. Upon her return, the woman hands the scarf off to another woman. The journey of the Camigas scarf continues today, and woven into its fibers is a simple yet profound truth: we walk our own paths, yet we are connected to each other in ways we don’t always see.

Tugged throughout life by a spiritual duality born of a Catholic father and a Buddhist mother, a woman on Camino experiences a state of bardo, an intermediate space described in Tibetan Buddhist teachings, a liminal space to just be and experience lightness, joy, and grace.

A friend presents a woman with four pebbles whose shapes roughly form the letters L-O-V-E, a visual reminder of the woman’s intention for her journey.

On the Portugués coastal route, a brief interaction with a local man reminds a pilgrim that on Camino as in everyday life, it is the smallest of encounters that can provide the greatest of meaning.

A man finds gratitude for the many gifts that marked his Camino. Sabbatical time from work. A financial grant to help find his renewal activity. Grace from family managing life in his absence. A special gift from the woman who would become his wife. And a proposal acceptance that would mark the beginning of a shared journey in life and back on the Camino.

A couple embark on Camino with a dear friend to celebrate milestone birthdays and relish the gifts the Camino gives every step of the way.

A woman berates herself for not living up to the idea she had about what constitutes a “real” pilgrim. When she finally allows herself to accept help, she comes to understand what it means to be a pilgrim.