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Pilgrimage road in Roncesvalles from www.santiago-compostela.net


Body
Took my second belly dancing class this week.

You might be wondering what belly dancing has to do with preparing for the Camino. Well, I could say I want to tone my core muscles because this will help my walking posture. Or I could say I'd like to connect with my inner exotic (but wait, I'm outwardly foreign.) Or I could say the dance requires a mind-body awareness not unlike yoga that will help me focus. But the real reason is, I won a certificate for free lessons at a dance studio, and I like the way the bells and coins on the hip shawl sound when I shimmy.

I called my son in Ann Arbor to ask him a question, and I told him I was waiting for my belly dance instructor. He said, "Stop right there, Mom." My daughter has implored me not to demonstrate moves in front of her friends.

So maybe this class will build my character, help me deal with rejection, teach me about intestinal fortitude (in more ways than one.)

I've also started taking zumba classes, a combination of dance and aerobics. All I can say about this is: maybe I'll stick with swimming. The instructor is so beautiful and toned that I feel light years away from where she is.

So, the general plan for preparing for the Camino is to lose weight to help my poor feet, build up aerobic fitness, strengthen leg and core muscles. I intend to gradually increase my walks/hikes (my limit now is only 3 miles walked in one hour), and by the start of summer next year I'll start carrying a backpack. I'm a little concerned about the long winter in Chicago--where would I hike?--but well, I just have to be resourceful.


Mind
I've stumbled upon a (temporary) solution to my avoiding-yet-needing Proust issue. Quotations! Yes, a summary of salient thoughts, a condensation of circumspection, literature for the lazy. I'll probably be doing his noble body of work a huge disservice by using one-liners, but let the Proust scholars cringe. This is Proust for the every man/woman. So, quote for the week:

"We must never be afraid to go too far, for truth lies beyond." Marcel Proust

My friend Bunny, our chief Camino planner, has announced a month-long schedule. Yikes! I'm trying to cut my participation down to 2 weeks. School starts about that time, and I shudder at the thought of my husband, Blaine, taking charge of driving my son back to Ann Arbor (who'll pack the goodies?) and my daughter missing her HS bus every morning. But wait, what was it Proust said about not being afraid to go too far for truth?

Walking in the Galician countryside and eating fresh seafood sounds glorious, though. Not to mention salvation from eternal damnation at the end. (Bunny mentioned that 2010 is a jubilee year--see first post.)

About that redemption and revelation thing that I also mentioned in the first post: would I be content with just one? If yes, which would it be?

In theology, redemption is deliverance from sin; salvation. In the secular world, the term means atonement for guilt, deliverance, rescue. I suppose for one to be redeemed, there has to be a pre-existing transgression. But who is not without such a mark on their soul? Who is not in need of even a little redemption?

As for truth, isn't the lack of truth a distortion of reality? Do we not hurt ourselves and others when we deny what is?

But sometimes we cower from both. We are afraid because the acquisition of truth or redemption holds us to a higher standard of ethics. Expectations are thrust upon us.

All I can say at this point is, I am far from redemption, and truth is hazy. I cannot yet walk the Camino. But it is there for me to reach, and it tests me even now.

Peace,
Almira