Pilgrimage: Conclusion: The end is the beginning
“Not I, not anyone else, can travel that road for you. You must travel it for yourself.”
—Walt Whitman, Song of Myself
Many people walk pilgrimage at a time of change — out of a need to reset, find a new direction in life, recover from grief, or find an answer to a question.
These three pilgrimage routes together over the last two years have certainly been a path of change through a rocky period in my life, and in the world in general. My solo pilgrimages helped calm my anger, frustration, and grief at everything going on in the world and my inability to change it. They have given me much during difficult times.
When I started my pilgrimage journey in October 2020, the pandemic still raged and I was stuck in the anger stage of grief, with a side of depression. I walked myself into submission over that time.
The St Cuthbert’s Way helped me prove to myself that I had the strength to carry on even while still suffering from post-COVID fatigue, and I found solace in the natural beauty of Northumberland.
When I walked the Camino de Santiago in September 2022, the world had moved on, and in many ways, so had I. The Way was not a catalyst for change but a culmination and celebration of two years of shifting perspective.
It’s the end of one season and the beginning of another. Perhaps that’s just one gift of middle age, but regardless, walking the Camino was the completion of a life goal and it closed one chapter so I can begin another.
* * *
There is a small stone marker outside Canterbury Cathedral, speckled with lichen. Most people walk straight past without even noticing it’s there. It depicts a pilgrim striding onward with his staff and bag, and marks the beginning of the Via Francigena, which runs from Canterbury to Rome. The route covers 1,700 kilometres and requires a few months to walk its length.
When I left Canterbury that final morning after the Pilgrims’ Way, I stood at that stone with my pack on my back. For a moment, I considered walking on and surrendering to the call of the way once more.
Then I turned my back on it and headed home.
I would set out on another pilgrimage — but not today.
