The following blogs are from a book I started on the Isle of Crete in 2006 after I had walked the famed Camino de Santiago, nearly 800 kilometers, alone with a 20 lb knapsack on my back . This walk took six weeks and was definitely the most difficult physical thing I had ever done in my life. I was at least 70 pounds overweight, which was like carrying three extra knapsacks. The terrain went from walking over the Pyrenees and the foothils for about two weeks, then walking through the meseta which was about as fun as walking across Saskatchewan in 36 degree weather, then into the Gallician hills with continuous rain and wind.
It was a time of transition for me. All five children had left home, I was divorced from a twenty year marriage, I sold everything I owned from a seven bedroom house into a 10 foot storage unit. I had no idea about where I would go when I got back. I was 54 years old.
I thought the Camino would permit me ample time to figure out my future and come to terms with my past. From day one and for the next six weeks, I did not think once about either of these two things. Due to the enormous stress on my body, I was in agony the whole way. I think now in retrospect my $300 boots that I was determined to make work out of sheer Scottish determination, were too small. They were wonderful in the morning when my feet were rested but I guess my feet swell with walking and it became a torturous, hot needles, throw in a few hot coals journey for the rest of the six to eight hours of walking.
I didn't quit because what was happening for the first time was I was developing a relationship with my body for the first time in my life. I came up with a concept of a book about self love that I called Solomate. The need to make yourself your own soulmate. I compared our relationship to ourselves to dysfunctional relationships I observed in my own relationships and those of my friends and even those in the minds of writers.
When I went to Crete I wrote the following mini chapters which were the first draft of my thoughts. These ones are mainly about my relationship with my body. They are very intimate. I contemplated as to putting this wrting up but then I realized that I did want to put it into a book and the reason for that was to share my story in an intimate way that would reach people who were going through similar things or who's own story needed telling. There is a risk factor in bravely putting yourself out to the world. Those who risk themselves in battles, both external and internal battles, whether they win or lose, have a story to tell that is universal.
I hope anyone reading these will feel free to comment and perhaps even find the courage to share their own story. We no longer have an "elder" society, but that's what I feel these stories are. Telling the tales of the battles for others to reflect on their own battles and maybe even find their own insight.
After the stories of the Battle of the Body are some articles I wrote for the Cosmos newspaper in Uxbridge. Although I no longer live there I still get invited to write articles around themes of Christmas and Canada Day. And occasionally about the arts.
Enjoy.
It was a time of transition for me. All five children had left home, I was divorced from a twenty year marriage, I sold everything I owned from a seven bedroom house into a 10 foot storage unit. I had no idea about where I would go when I got back. I was 54 years old.
I thought the Camino would permit me ample time to figure out my future and come to terms with my past. From day one and for the next six weeks, I did not think once about either of these two things. Due to the enormous stress on my body, I was in agony the whole way. I think now in retrospect my $300 boots that I was determined to make work out of sheer Scottish determination, were too small. They were wonderful in the morning when my feet were rested but I guess my feet swell with walking and it became a torturous, hot needles, throw in a few hot coals journey for the rest of the six to eight hours of walking.
I didn't quit because what was happening for the first time was I was developing a relationship with my body for the first time in my life. I came up with a concept of a book about self love that I called Solomate. The need to make yourself your own soulmate. I compared our relationship to ourselves to dysfunctional relationships I observed in my own relationships and those of my friends and even those in the minds of writers.
When I went to Crete I wrote the following mini chapters which were the first draft of my thoughts. These ones are mainly about my relationship with my body. They are very intimate. I contemplated as to putting this wrting up but then I realized that I did want to put it into a book and the reason for that was to share my story in an intimate way that would reach people who were going through similar things or who's own story needed telling. There is a risk factor in bravely putting yourself out to the world. Those who risk themselves in battles, both external and internal battles, whether they win or lose, have a story to tell that is universal.
I hope anyone reading these will feel free to comment and perhaps even find the courage to share their own story. We no longer have an "elder" society, but that's what I feel these stories are. Telling the tales of the battles for others to reflect on their own battles and maybe even find their own insight.
After the stories of the Battle of the Body are some articles I wrote for the Cosmos newspaper in Uxbridge. Although I no longer live there I still get invited to write articles around themes of Christmas and Canada Day. And occasionally about the arts.
Enjoy.