“Nothing stays the same” – Anneke Scholten
My Walk of Wisdom: “Nothing stays the same”. By Anneke Scholten.
From Thursday, October 27 to Friday, November 4, 2022, I will have the Walk of Wisdom
Run. Pilgrim number 12051. I never thought I’d be happy to write a song.
get.
The reason
The reason for the pilgrimage is the sudden death of my sister-in-law Claudia at 8
May of this year. I have no words for what that experience is. Not knowing, silent, violent,
vulnerable, connected. It has touched everything in my life. There is just a real
part of my, out of our lives. And that can happen again. We’re all going once in a while
death. A tipping point.
After the summer holidays, I noticed that I became more gloomy, that I was no longer enthusiastic about anything. Always
A lot of people around me, too little time to come to myself. On August 31st, I
decided to take my time and walk the Walk of Wisdom . And that immediately felt right and
made me a little less gloomy. With that decision, the pilgrimage began.
Preparation
Preparation of the pilgrimage: the practical form and what questions for the inner journey.
There were two lines. How do I want to give practical shape to the pilgrimage? And what do I want with myself,
The inner journey? Both lines influenced each other.
How many kilometers is it? How many days does it take you? How many days do I think about it?
do? What about overnight stays and how much luggage can and do I want to carry? Do I want to be alone or
regularly walk with my husband or a friend, book overnight stays in advance or book the van
Let my own pace depend, whether or not I can be reached via Whatsapp? Starting after the
ceremony in the Stevenskerk or not? Starting with my coach Nathalie Roovers from De
Veroconing in Ravenstein (has a beautiful garden house and is a sponsor of the route)?
I soon felt: Walking alone, because I needed time and space to come to myself. What
What happens to me if I decide everything myself for a longer period of time without the influence of others? In any case,
case without the influence of those close to me? So who am I? I want to experience this and
Research: What is my daily routine? Do I get up early or do I stay in bed for a long time? Do I put on or do I
Everything nice and smooth? Do I go to bed late? Do I hate being alone at night? Which one
Distance suits me? How fast do I run? To answer some of these questions,
I thought it would be best not to book the overnight stays in advance.
Do I dare? In the end, I dared to do it, because I trusted that there would always be a
solution and I secretly had the fallback option to call my husband and get me up.
(half an hour by car). But yes, I didn’t want that.
When I walk alone, do I feel lonely or uncomfortable?
What did I want to do with the inner journey? I have already completed the Latifa learning path three times with Nathalie
Robbers of the Veroovering in Neerlangel, municipality of Ravenstein. I decided to make a new
learning pathway. Prior to the pilgrimage, I took on a learning question. In
You will go through the light of this question on the learning path in a fixed order: 7 areas of attention
(acceptance, desire, hope, trust, letting go, love, free will). The Walk of Wisdom fell
in the first subtlety: Accept. How is my life now. Seeing and feeling what is there and what is
is not. Looking back on my life and naming what happened that I didn’t want. And
Naming what didn’t happen, what I would have liked. Without judgment. Letting go of emotions
that are coming. Let it flow.
I had planned to do the corresponding meditation every morning before I went
walk.
And then the time had come: The pilgrimage
I ran it on my own and it did me a lot of good.
Day 0: Arrived in Nijmegen, went out for dinner with my husband and slept at Granny Sientje’s.
The next morning he went home and I started my first day.
Day 1 14 km from the Stevens Church to Beek, Sous les Eglises.
Day 2 14 km to Kranenburg, pension Derks
Day 3 19 km to Mook, Friends on the bike at Wil Bloemen and dinner at Ryon Groen.
Day 4 16 km and rest day 5 Overasselt, with Machteld and Ronald as the last pilgrim of this
season (what a great place!)
Day 6 16 km Velp, in the monastery (the room was way too cold for me in terms of atmosphere, I was so happy that I was able to
had spent my rest day with Machteld and Ronald)
Day 7 17 km Leur, at Bed and breakfast Landelijk Leur with foot reflexology massage. A gift.
Day 8 18.5 km Deest, at Vrienden op de fiets address
Day 9 21.5 km, arrival at the Stevenskerk, which was unfortunately closed from 3 November. But what
Timing, when I arrived at the church, my husband walked up there. To reconnect
and to catch up, we then spent 2 nights in a log cabin at De Diepen in Milsbeek.
We walked the N70 together, had a good chat and enjoyed the beautiful autumn weather. A beautiful
transition to then go back into daily (work) life.
For me, the number of km per day was right. The first few days not too long distances and a good
distribution at the end. I have taken the remark “Take your time!” to heart.
I read 7 days so often that it was hard for me to assume 9 days.
An important goal was to find my own rhythm, my own running pace. To have the time to
to sink into myself. To stand still, to sit, to look or even to lie on the floor and
looking at the treetops. And to quietly drink a cappuccino along the way. I’m glad that
I listened to my feelings, didn’t cross my boundaries.
Starting the meditation daily has helped me to always experience and feel what
was going on with me at the time. Then I was able to let it go and go for a nice walk. And all
I regularly gained insights while I was walking. And every day a new aspect popped out
my life, which I have faced.
The great thing was that on the rest day I had doubts about meditating. I did it and there was
was only silence and emptiness. Everything said: You have a rest day, don’t you? I thought that was so funny and
Surprising to experience.
I have noticed that when I walked with other pilgrims, I enjoyed it for a while.
but noticed that I then went away from myself. I saw less or almost nothing of the
environment. After a valuable meeting on the first day, I am reluctant
and after short conversations I said goodbye again to walk alone. It was good
to experience this.
I stood still and sat a lot. Took a lot of pictures. Quite a few of them are an image for
what appeals to me or doesn’t appeal to me in my life. Or what gave me an insight.
I noticed that I was moved when I was offered something. Can I leave a message for
take you with you? (Thank you Machteld!). Accepting help and asking for help is not always possible for me
easy off.
I received the greatest insight on the second day of walking: Nothing stays the same, everything changes
continuous. What has been, has been. It’s over. Homesickness, relief, sadness. And
At the same time, I take what is of value with me. Rich feeling, love, gratitude. It is
Such a cliché. It goes deep when you let this fully sink in, coupled with
life events, experiencing it with all the emotions that come with it.
And that in the beautiful nature, the space of being outside. The shelter of the woods, the
views, the river, the estates, the vastness of the floodplains. And also the
rawness of the industry, the bridges. And just walk. Descending, and flowing and to myself
come.
It was the ideal way for me to be able to let everything come step by step. In the
Being nature gives me a lot of space and freedom to let everything flow without it
oppressive. It dissolves again. Stop for a moment and move on.
Day 1 was a walk-in day, days 2-8 were the real pilgrimage days for me. The last day
was a walk-out day. It was good. It felt like what was supposed to pass is over
Come. It wasn’t too short and it wasn’t too long. It was enough.
The Walk of Wisdom
Everyone who commits:
Thank you very much for this beautiful route that has brought me into good contact with myself.
Many thanks for the warm welcome at the guest addresses.
Faced my life. Accepting what didn’t happen what I did want,
Accepting what did happen and what I didn’t want. It evoked emotions. It has
insights.
I accept my life as it is now.
It has given me peace of mind. When I returned, not only did I notice this, but also those around me. I
Looked calmer and relaxed.
On to new experiences. What do I want now?
Anneke Scholten
