EL CAMINO - THE WAY
“Walk together. Feel the heart beat. Experience the presence.
This is how to be thankful.”
--Amit Ray
From the day we are born we’re on a journey, on a road. No one knows where it leads, if it has any goal, any meaning, but we’re on it together. In the everyday struggle of our lives, chasing and running between our work and family, duties and the must do obligations, we very seldom have the time to ask ourselves just those things: where are we going; why; how will the road unwind for us and what is the meaning of all this? Maybe it should be important, at least once in a lifetime, to leave every day worries behind, log out from computers and telephones. forget about yesterday and the troubles of tomorrow, and just be in now - feel the heartbeats, hear the footsteps, walk the road and share it with others.
The challenges we’ll meet on the road will not be the same as in our normal lives, but: ah, I’m tired; I got to get up that hill; I’m hungry, when comes the next town, where I can rest and get a bite to eat? And instead of thinking of the everyday duties, your thoughts will revolve around; will I get shoe chafing today; what clothes should I wear; will it rain or shine and what should I pack in my rucksack?
The struggle of the road is to get your km done, to get over that hill, around the next bend of the road, avoid sore feet and bad moods. The pleasure on the other hand, is to share the road with others, meet people and make new friends, find out what’s behind the next bend as the road unwinds. Eat good and bad food, drink the wine of the country, share laughs and sadness with others. And, at the end of the day feel satisfied with what you’ve accomplished and that the struggle took you to your goal! Laying in your bed you will feel very tired as the night has come and you fall asleep immediately without a single thought of tomorrow.
El Camino, that means The Road in Spanish. Millions of people have walked this pilgrim road since the 7:th century. At first for religious reasons only: if you made a pilgrimage you got much closer to have a chance to get to heaven. Nowadays people do it for a lot of reasons. Some are still religious. But, from what I understand, those who do it for religious reasons now, do the walk as a part of an inner journey. They want to reflect over life and their beliefs and the big questions and give themselves time to get in contact with their God. Then there are - maybe the biggest group - those who do it for personal and maybe spiritual reasons, but also for the challenges, and for the road and for the meeting of people and to get to see a part of Spain.
For whatever reasons people do the road they bear witness that it changes them in different directions. Mentally, religiously, spiritually and in terms of maturity and in the way they look upon life. If you try to leave the complex and must do things in life behind you, so that everything is fixed at home and you don’t have to worry about it when you start your journey, I think you will find that life on the road is easy. You carry all you have with you and you're far away from your regular troubles. This life is easy to understand. It is all about walking, eating and sleeping. As you wander you’ll have time to think about yourself and what’s going on in your life. You will meet and talk with people that you'd probably never get in touch with otherwise, and maybe you’ll discuss deep questions with them, total strangers, and maybe you’ll never see them again, or maybe you’ll make lifelong friends.
They say that there are as many reasons for doing the Camino as there are pilgrims; everyone has their own reason. I believe that it’s true. We all have our reasons. Or as we do the trip or have done it, the reasons will find us, and then we'll know.
Take a deep breath and start walking. Wonderful things will await you on El Camino.
圣地亚哥之路——EL CAMINO
“同行，感受心跳，体验当下的存在。
这就是感恩的方式。”
—阿米特·雷
从我们出生的那一刻起，就已踏上了一段旅程，一条道路。没有人知道这条路通向何方，也不知它是否有任何目标或意义，但我们却共同行走在这条路上。在我们日复一日的生活中，奔波于工作与家庭之间，在责任和各种必须完成的任务中穿梭，我们很少有时间停下来问自己这些问题：我们要去哪里？我们为什么会上路？这条路会经历什么？这一切的意义是什么？也许，至少在人生的某个时刻，我们需要放下日常的烦恼，关闭电脑和手机，忘记昨天的过去，不为明天的忧虑所困，只活在当下——感受自己的心跳，聆听脚步声，行走在路上，与他人分享这段旅程。
在路上，我们所面临的挑战与日常生活中的困扰截然不同。它是这样的：“啊，我累了；我得爬上那个坡；我饿了，下一个小镇还有多远，我可以在哪里休息、吃点东西呢？”你的思绪将不再围绕日常琐事，而是想着：“今天我的脚会不会起水泡？该穿什么衣服？天气会晴还是会雨？我的背包里应该装些什么？”
旅途的挣扎在于完成每天的公里数，攀越山坡，绕过前方的弯道，避免脚部酸痛和情绪低落。然而，旅途的快乐却在于与他人分享这段路程，结识新朋友，发现前方转角处的未知风景；品尝或好或坏的食物，喝上一杯当地的葡萄酒，与同行的人分享笑声与悲伤。一天结束时，你会因完成目标而感到满足，为努力的结果感到欣慰。夜幕降临时，你疲惫地躺在床上，几乎立刻便会沉入梦乡，不再思虑明日的种种。
El Camino，西班牙语意为“道路”。 自7世纪以来，已有数百万人踏上这条朝圣之路。最初，人们行走在这条路上是出于宗教信仰：完成一次朝圣之旅能够让人更加接近进入天堂的机会。而如今，人们踏上这条路的原因变得多种多样。有些人仍然怀有宗教信仰，但据我所知，如今那些为宗教信仰而行走的人，将这段旅程视为一种内心的探索。他们希望借此反思生活、信仰以及那些关于生命的大问题，同时给予自己时间与上帝对话。
除此之外，还有可能是最大的群体——那些为个人或者精神层面的原因而来的人。他们既是为了挑战自我，也是为了感受旅途，与人相遇，并领略西班牙的一部分风光。
无论人们为何踏上这条路，许多人都见证了这段旅程带来的改变：无论是心灵层面、宗教信仰、精神世界，还是成熟度和对生活的看法。如果你试图放下生活中复杂的琐事，确保家中的一切都已妥善安排，这样当你开始旅程时，就无需为此担忧。那么你会发现，旅途中的生活是如此简单明了。你所拥有的一切都背在身上，远离日常的烦恼。这种生活简单易懂：步行、吃饭和休息。
在行走中，你会有时间思考自己以及生活中的种种问题。你将会遇到那些在平日生活中也许永远不会接触到的人，与他们交流。也许你会与陌生人讨论一些深刻的问题，或者你们只是短暂的交集，再也不会见面，又或者，你会因此结识终生的朋友。
有人说，踏上圣地亚哥之路的理由有多少，就有多少个朝圣者；每个人都有自己的理由。我相信这是真的。我们每个人都有自己的理由。而当我们行走在这条路上，或者完成了这段旅程，这些理由便会找到我们，到那时，我们便会明白。
深吸一口气，迈出脚步。圣地亚哥之路上，将有无数精彩的事与人等待着你。
----End----
汉斯和菲奥娜在中国的旅行品牌【慢享北欧】
