Yeah Write: Pinky Swearing a Pair of Shoes

I look down at them. These shoes. The ones I’ve spent the last month and a half breaking in for comfort. It’s been all fun and games so far. Some hiking, a lot of walking, and some errands thrown in just because they’re feeling good.

I’ve never spoken to them until today. It wasn’t until today that I became tentative. It wasn’t until today I needed reassurance. Does it matter that I was talking to a pair of hiking shoes? Not really.

“Can you support me on this journey?”

“We are helpful to anyone who wears us," in my mind, they say.

“Did I tell you yet how long we’ll be together?”

 “It doesn’t matter,” they answer.

“How do you feel about the unknown, walking for 500 miles, being my closest friends?"

"We're here for as many days as you tie these laces. Take care of us and we will take care of you,” they reply quietly.

“Are you as nervous as I am?”

“Not at all. Stop worrying. This is what we're made for,” in a comforting tone, they said.

"But am I?"

"We're doing it together, remember?"

Doubting, I went to the forums and message boards, to people I didn’t know, people with experience, and every single one answered, “The Camino will provide.”

“That advice is a little…ah, general! What do they know?”

“More than you. Do you have a purpose? Do you know why you are doing this?” my hiking shoes questioned.

“Yes. I think so. I think I know.”

“You have 35 days to figure that out. Your purpose. It may change; become clear. Don’t be hard on yourself," they replied.

“Pinky swear you’ll stick with me through all of this, through all of the unknown, for 500 miles?”

“Yes. Put one foot in front of the other each day. Look within yourself. Do your best. Remember your purpose. And we will finish this journey together,” they reassured.

“How did a pair of shoes get so wise?”

“We aren’t. It’s inside of you. It's where it's always been and where it will always be.”

“We” leave in a week and a half to walk the 500 mile pilgrimage called El Camino de Santiago de Compostela or The Walk of St. James. I’m nervous and excited and a million other things. And I have a purpose. It may be loosely defined but that’s okay for now. My hiking shoes told me I have a lot of time to figure it all out.

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Hooking up for the last time until August with one of my favorite places on the web...Yeah Write!!! 

Abraham Lincoln Had It Right: Sunday Stream of Consciousness

So this is what Jana at Jana's Thinking Place had to say this morning:

“Emerson said, quite famously, “Life is a journey, not a destination.” I ran across this quote this week looking for another one, and remembered how much I love the sentiment.”

With this quote to inspire us, she provided the word “Journey” as our optional prompt for Sunday Stream of Consciousness. The rules are to write, about whatever we want, for five minutes then leave it be. Simple, right?

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"Live a good life, and in the end, it's not the years in a life, it's the life in the years. Abraham Lincoln"

Speaking of simple, I try to be in my everyday life. 

I strive for simple. I try not to over think things. Second guess. Rehash. Judge. I hate when I do.

I live in the realm of do-overs. Correcting mistakes. Sorry s. And imperfections within myself.

But mostly, I try to focus my everyday attentions on the things happening in my life right then and there. Not so much on things out of my control or too far from reach. My journey is one of aspiring to be in the moment. Being present in my one and only shot at this thing. Life.

It doesn't always happen this way though. My life is sometimes messy and complicated. That's life.

But I'd like my journey to be simple. Or as simple as potentially possible.

This wasn’t always my goal. My path. My journey.

I spent a lot of years “wanting” things, people, what I didn’t have, what I thought I should have.

To say the years have been kind to me and taught me to relish what I DO have is an understatement. I just have to listen carefully to hear it sometimes.

Life happens.

Things happen.

Then things change.

Sometimes your world turns upside down.

Quite a few years back, I found this sign. It hangs above my side door. And my side door is the only door anyone in this family, or friends for that matter, use to leave our home or enter our lives. I must pass through this door 10 times a day, 70 times a week, 300 times a month…well you get the point. But I only probably read this sign, acknowledge it’s meaning, once a week if that. It's just there. Hanging around for years.

For my journey to be a success, I need to “see” it every day and remember what is truly important in my one and only life. 

It’s always about the people.

The life in the years.