Completing the Blog May 2014

May 1, 2014 What a lovely collection of memories I have discovered in re reading this blog that I put so much of my heart and soul into over the time I was walking the Camino. It was especially important for me to track my progress for family who were following my journey, but more importantly, it was a way for me to record the journey of how my life was changed as a result of this long and difficult walking experience. Since I have completed these walks, I have changed my life completely. I still find joy and solace each morning in my daily walks around my neighbourhood and I am deeply committed to my health and lifestyle balance. It is a joy to have the freedom of retirement from a terrifically stressful work life and to be able to structure my days and my life around the activities and people that I love. I have become addicted to my yoga practice, finding the peace of mind and strength in my physical well being that I gained from my walk along the Camino. In addition, I have discovered lovely new friends and acquaintances who are committed to similar intentions about life and wellness. I find myself at a different stage of life these days. I feel that I am getting older but more settled in knowing who I am and what inspires me each day. There is a calm place mentally and physically which I can access from my experience of walking in Spain. This has been a source of happiness for me, just to realize that anything is possible really - who would have thought I could walk all those miles across Spain, especially the mountains in the northern route. If I could do that adventure on my own, then I am capable of coping with whatever comes my way. I have a great sense of peace from this awareness. My intention now is on my health and wellness, keeping strong physically with walking and yoga classes and spiritually balanced with the practice of yoga and my other interests. I am creating - music and art - through my piano playing and the interests that I have in photography and knitting, painting and writing. My goal is to accomplish a repertoire of music that I can record, to develop a craft that I can use as gifts for others and a sense of creative outcomes for myself. Ah - how the structure of my work life intrudes into my process with the need for goals and outcomes still! My intention around writing has been developing thru short stories about my life and while my idea always was to write more seriously in the form of a book, I have not yet had the courage to lay it out. There is something I have been brewing over the past decade regarding life and relationships; the challenge of living out a happy life amidst the everyday and the unexpected hurdles that we face. This will come with time I am sure. I had meant to complete this blog some time ago and have realized that it is helpful to people still - who are contemplating a journey such as I have undertaken in walking the Camino Frances and the El Norte. Because there is still 'traffic' on my posts, I am happy to see that the entries that I made are of interest to others. In completing this blog, I am actually using it as the launch of another - more focused on the journey that I am on now in this lovely stage of my life. I am married once again to a lovely man that I met after completing the El Norte. I have 5 grandchildren now and am happy to watch my 3 lovely kids reach middle adulthood with great marriages, successful careers and lovely homes. I am inspired by my daily conversations with my Mother - who will be 93 this summer. Her energy and enthusiasm for life is unbounded and provides me with the kind of role model that few other people have the good fortune to experience. I live in several places, having a lovely home in Florida for the winter months and a beautiful cottage in the north for the summer months. I an indeed fortunate to have the abundance that life has provided to me in the past 8 years since I first launched myself onto the Camino - looking for hope again following the death of my husband Chris in 2006. Who could have imagined it would all turn out like this and the great news is that I have a new life ahead of me, once that will be healthier, happier and more creative that the past, simply because I have learned so much about myself and life along the way. So thanks to all of you who have read this blog and been involved in my journey. I wish you well on your own way. A few thoughts: Happiness is in the doing not in what you want. We are the sum of the moments of our lives. It is the insignificant of the everyday that provides meaning for the vagabond. Meaningful life is about imagination. Imagination is the creative side of the brain that we do not give ourselves permission to dwell in because it does not appear as productive visually in our world - or as much of a contribution. So much to learn from the simple experience of just living. The experience of walking brings all of life's moments together in one place. Buen Camino Maggee (maggee60@yahoo.ca)