A Path I was Always Meant to Follow
A reflection written in my notes app after two weeks on the Camino de Santiago
April 19, 2025
“People ask, if the Eightfold Path is a path, where does it go? And the answer is, the path doesn’t go from here to there, it goes from there to here. It takes us from being lost, to coming back to the freedom of wisdom and love just where we are.” - Jack Kornfield
There is this idea I heard in a podcast that in the archetype of the hero’s journey, there is an initial refusal of the call. Which immediately made me think of Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit, who, when Gandalf knocked on his door, said, “No, I don’t want any adventures.” And I remember thinking, while I was listening to that podcast, that I never refused the call. I have been chasing, seeking, and wondering for years, and here I am still jumping into the next great thing. In this case, the Camino de Santiago. Or more specifically, the Camino de Norte or the northern way. Which journeys for over 500 miles along the northern coast of Spain.
During my first day on my Camino, I had to climb up this incredible steep slope. While I was panting and pushing myself to keep going, I looked back down from where I had come, and it looked like the Shire. All these beautiful green hills were filled with soft sunshine. And I thought, “This is just the first part of my journey, and look how far I have already come,” because they say the first step is the hardest, but for me it was natural and easy. I had charged ahead full of excitement and wonder, and hadn’t looked back until that moment.
Many people I met on the Camino were seeking something specific. Some answer to a question, or some great insight into what to do next. Or just what to do. But 10 days into the Camino, I find myself with decision fatigue and exhausted from looking for something or to feel something. I thought that I would feel connected to the divine this entire journey, but instead I just feel these highs and these lows and I am so much in my physical body.
My friend and I talked about how perhaps the Camino does not teach us what to do, but instead how to do it. How to live our lives, how to be in the moment, how to be grateful, how to stay connected to love when everything is wet and the shower at the hostel is cold and you ran out of your favorite protein bars and you’re dehydrated and have blisters and still have 8 miles to go. How do you stay positive when everything goes wrong and you’re so so exhausted? How do you prioritize your well-being when it means saying goodbye to everyone you’ve met so far, whom you feel so connected to and have so much fun with?
I was talking to my brother, who is an avid thru-hiker, and he said, “There is going to be a lesson, whether you want there to be or not, the question is: are you going to be open to receiving it?” And I wondered if perhaps that is the call in the hero’s journey that I have been refusing all along.
Wowww doesn’t teach us what to do but how to do it that is so cool