Four Loads to Lighten
Four Loads to Lighten
by Barney Gorin | Gaithersburg, MD
My pilgrim experience has helped me identify four loads we carry:
- The physical load of the kilograms of clothing and gear weighing down our soles
- The mental load of planning and expectation, and the discomfort and fear of stepping into the unknown.
- The spiritual load that dwells deep within us.
- The physiological load borne of exhaustion or injury.
Reducing my physical load is a constant process. The “absolute limit” of seven kilos I initially set for my backpack’s loaded weight has turned out to be not so absolute. As many pilgrims have foretold, time and distance compel us to cast contingency items to the wayside. The Camino teaches us to weigh just how necessary or indispensable each item is.
The mental load we each carry is our own as we leave our comfort zone and step into uncertainty, questioning everything from our ability to meet the physical challenges to where we will eat and spend the night. The idea of sharing a bunk room with strangers can be daunting. Setting foot on a potentially hazardous or challenging trail can be intimidating. The possibility of getting lost can be unnerving. The simplicity of Camino life has a way of focusing our thinking, and my mental load—on the Camino and in ordinary life—grew lighter with every step. I noticed it lighten rapidly as I looked back at Irún from along the side of Monte Jaizkibel. I knew then “I can do this,” and that finishing my day in Pasajes de San Juan would be easier than returning to Irún.
Suffice it to say my life’s spiritual load lifted from my first step on the Camino on August 4, 2018.
Finally, there is the physiological load. The pain of exhaustion is expected, yet somehow the near-daily walking makes it less intense. The pain of injury is different. It is never far away and can be difficult to bear. How does one lighten the load of injury pain? Is it the hospitalero in an albergue carefully cleaning a peregrina’s feet, then gently treating her blisters? Is it the doctor at a Centro de Salud giving an elderly peregrino an injection and prescribing him medicine? Is it the Camino caring for its own?
Somehow, I believe it is all of them. And more.
