Consider… the Walk of Wisdom: halfway (report by pilgrim Simone Venderbosch, part 2 of 4)
Text & images: Simone Venderbosch
On the sixth day of my Walk of Wisdom , I have a good routine. In the meantime I have found my own rhythm and being alone is going well for me. I manage just fine, enjoy being on the road, discovering a new environment and meeting new people all the time. It is also the first day that I have to deal with a change in weather and the accompanying rain/thunderstorms after the hot days.
Fortunately, I manage to avoid the thunderstorms and walk towards the campsite, intensely satisfied and relaxed. I love solo camping so much! The first thing I do when I arrive at my new campsite is have a chat with the neighbors. For contact, but also very practical for borrowing a hammer to get my pegs into the bone-dry soil. In addition to a hammer, I am usually offered something else. How many cups of coffee, plates of food or invitations I’ve received along the way! There really are a lot of nice people in the world!
Sleep in
This time, in addition to the hammer, I am also offered a chair by my neighbors. The advantage of being 1.60 meters is that I could lie curled up on my side in my sleeping bag. It was chilly and there was a strong wind. And that was nice to lie down! I dozed off in the chair that afternoon. In the evening, however, I just slept in the tent. The next day I sleep in until half past eight. By the way, I deliberately don’t set an alarm during this hike, I sleep until I wake up automatically. Today it feels like I’m very late, because ‘neighbor hammer’ is already having breakfast and ‘neighbor folding kettle’ is already doing a hand wash! The tent is damp for the first time when I want to pack it. By the way, it is also the first campsite without ants or mosquitoes!!
Making small talk
I have breakfast with all my belongings in the common room, where I attract the attention of the grandfather of the campsite. He’s in the mood for a chat today. Another woman shuffles over to us and a beautiful conversation spontaneously arises. After a while I apologize that I really have to leave now. When I walk away, I just catch what those two are saying to each other: ‘Isn’t that beautiful?’ ‘Yes, beautiful’.
Halfway
A little further on I come across a small chapel of Our Lady. At this spot (which is about halfway along the Walk of Wisdom ) I light a candle. There is also a logbook for pilgrims. How wonderful to read other people’s stories! And a good moment to reflect on what the trip has brought me so far. I try to sum that up in words. And now it’s there, on paper. It’s very tangible all of a sudden. When I look around me after writing, I see that Mary is lying at my feet while I write. I also see that on the altar Mary is pointing her hand to my candle. Wow, how magical this is. It’s a really serene place. Gee, am I really halfway there?
The next part along the floodplains is warm and there is nothing special to see along the way. What is special is that the wind gives me such a soothing feeling. Everything rustles in my path. I walk in a pleasant cadence. The long stretches on the floodplains towards Grave and the wind give me the peace to turn into myself. Grave is getting closer and I don’t really want to be in a village yet. Give me silence for a moment. I sit down by a cornfield, write a piece and enjoy the wind. On the terrace I get my next ring. A black ring with the text ‘from the Grave’ on it. Gallows humour.
Outside Grave I walk quietly the last kilometers towards the monastery. It’s a bizarre contrast; To my left the potatoes are rotting due to the drought and to my right the water of the stream is very high! So high, in fact, that I have to climb the last part over the barbed wire, because my path is flooded.
A sober room?
In the monastery I am warmly welcomed and, according to what they say, I get a sober room. Although, you can hardly call it austere. I even have a name tag on the door! And wifi, and cotton sheets! Top man! I eat a hot meal in the refectory with the caretaker. What a beautiful room! After dinner we do the dishes together in the large kitchen, isn’t that great? And now I’m sitting at a seat by the water. It doesn’t get any better than that…
And it doesn’t stop. After all, the manager is a jack of all trades; Tomorrow morning at half past eight I will have a silent meditation with him in the chapel. I’m at a loss for words… It’s so overwhelming.
7.30 Meditation
… That I may accept what is,
may trust what comes,
may let go of what was,
catch your breath at any time
Possessing nothing, I am free.
Letting go, trusting and being free. Small words with big meaning. How beautifully these words sum up what this pilgrimage has brought me so far. The words and the stay in the monastery have a great impact on me. It feels like a kind of tipping point in my journey. I have come to myself, I have experienced what is captured above in those four words, I am okay, I have arrived. It feels like my journey is complete, I don’t really need to go any further.
Still, I tear myself away from this memorable moment and decide that I really want to finish the walk. The Walk of Wisdom is shaped like a flying bird and I want to spread both wings of this walk. It still takes a very long time before I really leave and leave. I wander and walk slowly. Apparently, I’m not quite ready for the life around me. I would have liked to stay another day to hold on to this feeling. But I walk steadily on, slowly leaving the monastery behind me. I turn on music and that keeps the silence in me for a while.
The Emmaus Monastery: the oldest monastery of the Capuchins, an order inspired by the ideas of Francis of Assisi (1181-1226). This Francis saw all people, animals and even the sun and moon as ‘brothers and sisters’.
“Francis, you’re my man”
Introducing:
My name is Simone Venderbosch. I love walking, on my own. I only walk marked routes and preferably those with a booklet. Hours, days, weekends or weeks. With or without a tent. Surrender, trust, freedom, peace, stillness, nature and the elements are central to me while walking. My stories describe the experiences I have, my fumbling, the difficult, embarrassing and euphoric moments. Contemplative one moment, with a grain of salt the next. Just the way I am.
Walk of Wisdom