Have you ever gotten lost, with no GPS to guide you back to the familiar? Walking the Camino de Santiago is an opportunity to listen to your inner voice.
Leaving Melide one foggy morning, after stopping at El Pequeno Oasis for Santiago cake and fresh raspberries from the adjacent field, my husband and I fell into an easy rhythm of walking and talking. As the sun rose, melting the dew in the meadows, we slowly shed layers, emerging from forest paths onto country roads, feeling lighter and invigorated for the day ahead, oblivious to time.
An approaching car slowed and stopped alongside us. Rolling down her window , the driver began speaking rapid Spanish while pointing to the road ahead (from whence we had come). We nodded, mumbled 'si' and 'gracias' and she sped off.
"Clearly we're walking in the wrong direction," I said to my husband. I hadn't been watching for the yellow arrows, nor had I seen a pilgrim in a while, but I instinctively knew what she had said. "Nope," he replied. "She said we needed to walk on the opposite side of the road, for safety."
Change Your Mind, Change Your Direction
We debated for a few minutes until he continued walking in the same direction, his red coat becoming a speck in the distance as I, unsure, fell farther behind, absorbed in photographing spider webs. Eventually, I heard shouts from across a field and saw a woman waving at me as she ran out of her house. I didn't know anyone here; didn't even know where 'here' was. She emphatically pointed behind me, repeating 'peregrina' and 'camino.'
We were walking in the wrong direction.
Why had I not listened to my intuition earlier and saved us miles of backtracking? These two strangers went out of their way to help us two unaware pilgrims find our way. I thanked her, now sure of myself, and retraced my steps. As I crested the hill, I turned to wave at the red dot to return, and walked on till I found the yellow arrow we had missed, so obvious on the opposite side of the road.
These women, who appeared for only an instant on the Camino, remind me that while I may not always be on the right path in life, I can always change my mind, choose to trust my instincts and listen to kind strangers.
For it is kindness that will help us find the way home.
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