I’m nearing the completion of my Camino de Santiago virtual pilgrimage, and I’m looking at the intentions that I set at the beginning of my walk in April 2021:
- strengthen my feeling of connection to spirit
- live with gratitude, especially for the ordinary and everyday
- be the person that I aspire to be
- live with grace and equanimity
I didn’t really keep those intentions top of mind during my pilgrimage, but I’m happy with the degree to which the intentions have been fulfilled.
I understand more fully (and in an experiential way) that we can feel joy amongst all the challenges of life. This has been life-changing for me, to give myself permission to savor joy even when I’m in the middle of challenges.
Through walking every day (or not, as when I broke my knee), showing up, and being fully present to my life, I have developed a habit of appreciating the most mundane or ordinary aspects of my life, in all areas of my life, and throughout the course of a day.
The practice of showing up and walking every day has helped me to feel more grounded and to live with more evenness of mind.
Once again, I have learned that setting intentions for how I want to be is a powerful practice, even if I don’t make a project out of meeting them.
That my pilgrimage turned out to be all about joy surprised me. This is a lesson that as long as I remain open in my heart, the right outcomes find me. I don’t have to go chasing after them.
What are your intentions, for how you want to be?
Leave a Reply