A weird thing happened on The Camino

A weird thing happened on The Camino. We began to notice that we would feel tired just before approaching our night’s accommodation, hungry before approaching an expected cafe, in need of coffee before that first stop of the morning. 

Yet on days when we knew we had a long walk before a cafe we were rarely affected by hunger or thirst for coffee. And the days when we decided we wanted to walk a long distance felt similar to walking a shorter distance.

Physical sensations created by the stories in our minds about the need for coffee, water, food and a good night's sleep in order to be able to put one foot in front of the other.

Fascinating.

And hilarious on the day there was an unexpected holiday and most Pilgrims were caught out.

The first cafe was closed. The second cafe was closed. Stories about how we would go without food and drink that day started to run through my head with their accompanying tales of suffering.

By the time we got to the third cafe we were not alone in our distress. Sat on a low stone wall in the sunshine, overlooking a stream with beautiful mountains in the background we watched as other Pilgrims caught us up and reacted with dismay to the closed sign.

One young woman even fell to her knees and went full on toddler tantrum before stuffing her face with junk snacks. No beautiful mountains or stream for her. Just suffering.

No judgement. We’ve all been there. We all get overwhelmed by the biggest threat of the moment. We’re supposed to. It’s how we survive.

We walked a long way that day without breakfast. We were surprisingly fine. I'm grateful for that day because it taught me the power of catching the stories of doom in my head and choosing new stories. And how that can have a direct and immediate effect on the physical sensations in my body, the strength of my mind and the courageousness of my heart.

Stories are powerful. Which is why I invited Storysmith, D. Grant Smith, onto the podcast. 

Episode 199: Unlocking Deep Connections Through Storytelling with D Grant Smith is out today.

I hope you find it nourishing and find some space and freedom for yourself in seeing the effect of the stories running on that background loop in your mind.