Day 3 from Deba to Markina was probably the toughest and most isolated section of my Camino, with the pine forests also hiding my fellow pilgrims once we headed into the mountains. The test here was for my psychology – how well could I handle a self-directed journey where I had no way to gauge how I was doing relative to the others?
So often we need other people to tell us who, what and where we are: people we compete with, people we compare ourselves with, people we model, people we don’t want to be like. But what’s most fundamental is our relationship to ourselves. That’s the only thing that’s true and solid, and the only thing that will be forever true and solid. If you are religious or spiritual, you will probably extend that to your relationship with the Divine, but you know what I mean.
When you know you can only truly count on this one connection, it not only makes you want to nurture your relationship with yourself, but it also lightens the expectations you have of others. It helps you forgive them for being human. And isn’t that a good thing, chef?