AYANO HONDA Camino, the journey of the soul

CAMINO, THE JOURNEY OF THE SOUL

TEXT AND ILLUSTRATIONS: AYANO HONDA

Just a few days before the coronavirus outbreak in Europe, I took part in the

Camino trip in Spain with my nine fellow residence mates. Camino de Santiago, also known as the Way of St. James, has traditionally been a Christian convention since the Middle Ages. Nowadays people from all over the world walk the Camino for the sake of faith, adventure, personal challenge, and trying something new. I was one of the latter. That moment, I never knew what would come next and how precious normal life would become. Now we are forced to live in a much more difficult world than ever before: it is very painful to live with the fear of death and unpredictability of even tomorrow. However, when I think about what helps me cope with the hardship right now, for me it is the experience of this Camino trip. It gave me strength and confidence I never gained from anything else. What was so special about walking 113-km on foot in five days? I would like to recall my memory in this diary.

Firstly I want to note that most of the Camino was “pain” - both physically and mentally. But the rest few percent - stunning. Let’s go. The adventure took place in Sarria, a beautiful small village where we saw a lot of medieval stone houses. Soon after the departure, we entered into the great nature. There lied a never-ending pastoral landscape with cows and sheep sleeping and eating, the round-shaped hills that looked like the one in the movie The Sound of Music, and forests that were still green in the end of February. The great excitement we had in the very beginning of the trip soon disappeared; a brutal storm came. Storm Karine was intense enough to down the trees in the forests. The rain was literally like a waterfall and we were all wet and cold despite the waterproof outfits. We kept walking so as not to lose the warmth. Inside the shoes was like a swimming pool and socks were wet enough that I could squeeze them. Every step on a tiny stone became more hurtful and our feet got a lot of blisters - of course band-aids were not helpful at all as the skin was wet from walking on the muddy alley. Some of us got their shoes broken because of the intense walking. The heavy

backpack felt more painful hour by hour, but we could not put it on the inundated ground. In the end of each day, when we saw a village to stay far away in the eyesight, we felt great relief and excitement; however, the village never came closer to us until 3 hours later. When the impatience and fatigue reached the limit, an interesting thing happened. I started to feel nothing. Empty! I realised that I did not hate the rain, pain, mud, and on top of that, “being vulnerable to the nature”. This out-of-the-ordinary life became my new ordinary life; I was surprised at my adaptive skill to a new environment.

After I got totally used to my pilgrim life, I felt myself enjoying the world very differently. My empty mind was just pleased with the moist air, the scent of the trees, the gentle breeze drying the clothes, and the soft heat from the sunlight. Rural, friendly animals were excited to see strangers and followed us until the middle of the way. A light heart and an exhausted body are the best combination to find a small, pretty happiness. Medieval villages in which nobody lived anymore lied every 5-10km and I completely forgot how my city life in the 21st century had been like, even though I was just there until a few days before. Pilgrim’s outfit was also something unordinary. Clumsy big raincoat was the uniform for everyone. Witches and wizards were around there. We talked, sang songs, prayed from time to time, contemplated alone, encouraged each other, greeted other pilgrims. Being so far away together from the mundane life we left in tvhe previous world, we pilgrims were feeling united, so much. I really liked my new ordinary life!

Pilgrimage is very simple - it is all about walking, following the yellow arrow that is written every 500 meters and tells the direction. However, it does not only mean a physical activity. It actually has a bigger spiritual aspect. As I wrote, I experienced the moment when I became the most vulnerable. I had neither roof nor umbrella to protect myself from the rain and wind. I only had my tired slow feet to move forward. My shoulders were not big enough to carry more than the minimum

amount of clothes and food and water. I was so tiny, so weak, and so nothing! However, interestingly, I was feeling very strong at the same time. My existence felt more real and more dense. I think it was a sort of katharsis - purification of the mind afterknowing the physical limit. Being minimum, being nothing, and being only myself. These are the essential experiences from the trip. Practicing this way afterreturning to the mundane life is very difficult. However, I wish to embrace this “pilgrim mentality”. Yes,I was a pilgrim. I still am. A pilgrim shall never stop the journey!