“On more than one occasion I have been ready to abandon my whole life for love. To alter everything that makes sense to me and to move into a different world where the only known will be the beloved. Such a sacrifice must be the result of love... or is it that the life itself was already worn out? I had finished with that life, perhaps, and could not admit it, being stubborn or afraid, or perhaps did not know it, habit being a great binder. I think it is often so that those most in need of change choose to fall in love and then throw up their hands and blame it all on fate. But it is not fate, at least, not if fate is something outside of us; it is a choice made in secret after nights of longing.... I may be cynical when I say that very rarely is the beloved more than a shaping spirit for the lover's dreams... To be a muse may be enough. The pain is when the dreams change, as they do, as they must. Suddenly the enchanted city fades and you are left alone again in the windy desert. As for your beloved, she didn't understand you.

The truth is, you never understood yourself.”

 Jeanette Winterson,""

From claudia rainville's book on metamedicine: how to stay in good health, how to stay better by christian tal schaller

..do things that give you joy and the impression of using your life well

..let go of all the negative emotions that you can find within yourselves

..cultivate positive images in your mind

..give yourselves enthusiastic targets

..discover what you really want to do in your lives

..find ways to express your love

..love yourselves and love others

..create relations that are happy, fun loving and full of love

..heal all the traumatic relationships of the past, above all those with your parents and with people ..who were special for you

..take the decision to dedicate yourself to health and happiness

..accept yourselves and accept all that comes in your lives as an occasion to grow and progress

..learn to draw whatever you can from every experience

..go ahead with a sense of humor!

lets talk about the preparation!

so, as i have not yet begun my cammino.. i would like to talk to you all about my preparation ( or unpreparedness ) . .. the question i began with was.. how do u prepare for a journey of this kind? the last cammino i did was simple; i had support..from the point of view of directions.. guides.. my friends who have done it before..what to carry ..n what not to.. internet sites .. etc etc. but what i was proposing to myself.. was something .. that does not really fall in as a standard cammino.. it's a combination of many many cammino's and some paths.. which will just have to be discovered as i go along.. this is kind of the story of my life too!.. the beginnnings n z ends are kind of predefined.. in between.. there are these tracks .. with maps n guides n dogmas.. and X.. and Y.. but the real issue is ME!  i get overwhelmed by the situations, sometimes i am able to comprehend what's happening and most of the time i have no clue as to where n how things will end up ..!!

 that said.. i would like to divide the preparation phase in different parts.. geography, clothes and equipment, physical preparation and psychological and spiritual preparation. at any one point of time, before i start, i imagine that i would need to be sufficiently prepared in some of these.. and leave the rest to develop during the walk!

there are some things that add to the complexity of the walk.. the distance, my complete ignorance of doing such long treks in autonomy.. n the weather! this gives me a steep learning curve to begin with. my experience from the last cammino taught me that.. preparing for a cammino is good.. but the only thing that really helps is gentle faith! a deep faith in myself and the universe/ providence to provide me with what i need when i need it! and i guess, this journey of mine is to rediscover these believes!

dinner with giorgio ceran at FRIGORIFERI MILANESI

his books

the route

dear friends, today i go to meet giorgio caeran. he made a long and beautiful trip from italia to india on his vespa! a great traveller and what courage!  ...what can u ask a man who does a travel like this.. i just sat and enjoyed the conversations.. for example.. on his way back, afganistan was invaded by the russians.. so he had to figure out what to do.. with himself ....n the scooter ... or that of the 5 big names on the map, 3 have already a new name.. :)

When nothing is sure, everything is possible  Margaret Drabble

a good article by meindla bout taking care of your boots 
http://www.meindl.de/english/service/service_2.html

To be a pilgrim