D.A.S.H. Entertainment: A Year After the Camino

A year ago today, I walked into Santiago with two pilgrim friends I had made along the way. We arrived very early in the morning. There were no bagpipers to greet us, none of the vendors had set up their carts yet, not even the people begging for change had taken to the streets yet. We had the entire square to ourselves, save one or two people walking by.

Jumping for joy as we arrived in Santiago!

At first that seemed a bit anti-climatic. Here I had walked 500 miles across Spain and it was just another day to everyone else. In that moment, I realized that - as cliche as it is to say - it really was about the journey, not the destination. In those 500 miles I had met some amazing people, had my heart - as well as my busted up feet! - healed and was transformed in ways I hadn't expected.

Here I am a year later reflecting on the best experience of my life. I was on a film set the other day and someone mentioned how she was going to move to New York at one time in her life but then had doubts if that was the right thing to do. She talked to her dad about how she had already told everyone of the move, and was worried how would that look to people. He replied that no one is that concerned with her life; they are too busy worrying about their own.

That idea really resonated to me as I remembered walking into the cathedral square with my two friends. No one cared what we had been through; it was just a Friday to them. They had their own lives to worry about. And really, did I care? I had walked for me, not to be greeted with any fanfare.

The idea that people aren't concerned with your life can be a comforting thought if you are worried about others and what they might think about you. However, the idea that people aren't concerned with others is, well, concerning to me. I understand the sentiment that my friend's dad was trying to convey, but I am so glad for all the pilgrims who did concern themselves with my life and I for theirs.

It is a beautiful thing to be a witness in someone's life. There are billions of people in our world, so it is easy to feel anonymous and perhaps unimportant. So when you have someone who is there to walk with you through life, it is special. It may be just for a few days across a country on a shared pilgrimage or it may be a spouse who journeys with you for 60 years. To be present in someone's life, to acknowledge their life and what they are going through, is a special gift to someone.

A saying you hear on the Camino de Santiago is, "the Camino provides." It provided me with listening ears, shoulders to cry on, companions with whom I could walk in silence, friends to share countless laughs, and a fellow chocoholic (you know who you are!). My hope is that a year after the Camino - and beyond - I can keep that spirit of a pilgrim - to accept help and friendship when I need it and to be ready to assist others and walk with them through their life when they need it.