Camino Frances Day 17: Completion, Reflection, and Honoring Love | Day 268 of my 2023 Journal

Cecilie Conrad·Sep 26, 2023

Camino Frances. Day seventeen.

This is so emotional.

So much so I can not do it. Not for a short thing for social media. We completed. We completed the Camino, and I can not begin to explain how much happened, how important it was, how I mourn the change coming, and how I, at the same time, LOVE the process.

It is so complex.

Instead, I will babble on about the day and how it was, what we did. If I can.

I had a lovely morning office time in the sunrise, as we had decided to leave just in flow - I took out a blanket and my computer and sat on a wall to finish my writing while enjoying my coffee. The final day! Wuau.

The group arrived, my family got ready, and off we went for the final stretch: only ten kilometers, not much.

Some of this last part is truly beautiful. Some trees are covered in moss, some viewpoints and some stretches of planted systematic but silent forest are so beautiful it is hard to grasp. Some are basic, and others are weird. We made a lot of stops and felt we had enough time. Which we also had.

Arriving is chaotic, with too many people, even a tourist train. I think it is - at least for us - too overwhelming to take in the fact we did it in the chaos of the cathedral of Santiago. Cheryl and I went to have the certificates made, and most of us visited the relics in the Cathedral after that. Felt like a sheep, walking in line, but I also felt like the right thing to do.

The most important to me was to light a candle. A candle for love.

Not that love needs a candle.

It is THE candle.

So lighting a candle for love in the cathedral of Santiago after walking the Camino again was more a way for me to honor the fact love is what it is all about, and that I am part of it and it will always shine, no matter what.

The rest is history.

Really.

It is.

With love

Cecilie-Underskrift-300x133

Cecilie Conrad

Thank you for reading
I would love to hear from you. Listen to your thoughts and reflections - or praise :) It is often emotional to share our lives like this, and we get very happy when we get your feedback. So feel free to share a comment below 😋

See more images on Facebook

Previous Finding Peace on the Camino: Sunsets, Mangoes, and New Beginnings | Day 269 of my 2023 Journal

Next Camino Frances Day 16: Trusting the Process and Embracing the Journey | Day 267 of my 2023 Journal

Comments

Write a comment...

Unschooling and Parent consulting, conversations, blogposts, and podcasts on family life and learning

Hi, I'm Cecilie Conrad. I'm a trained psychologist, mother of four, radical unschooler and full-time traveller. I have lived with unschooling for over a decade and help other families find their own path – whether it is about homeschooling, unschooling, or the bigger question of how you want to live as a family.

I offer guidance, conversations and talks. I call my work grandmothering – not coaching in the traditional sense, but presence, professional insight and concrete help navigating motherhood and finding your way home to your own values.

Am I the right person to help you? You can book a free discovery call, and we'll talk and figure it out.

Unschooling & Parent Consultant

Grandmothering – not coaching. Read more here

Listen to my podcasts

I share my knowledge and curiosity about family life and learning in my two podcasts.

Listen here

Read my latest blogposts

Worldschool pop-up event | Day 120 of my 2023 Journal

The pop-up event has officially started. Twenty-two more families were arriving on top of the 14 already here. We are excited to reunite with old fri…Read more

Everything Stops | Day 119 of my 2023 Journal

I get to learn over and over to trust the process. Live unfolds beautifully. And that there is no need to panic. Any panic works against the unfoldin…Read more

The Marsh | Day 118 of my 2023 Journal

It is very moist here. Rain comes in and out, grass full of dew in the morning, and the marsh vibrating with a baseline of water. We have been told i…Read more

Parachute guy, the women, and yet another bonfire | Day 117 of my 2023 Journal

During D-day, one of the parachuters had the bad luck of getting stuck hanging from the church tower. As the village at the time was taken over by th…Read more

Climbing in Caen | Day 116 of my 2023 Journal

To be challenged into a comfort zone is a very healthy thing. When we do things we would normally not do, we discover new elements of our vulnerabili…Read more

The Bayeux Tapestry and how we absorb | Day 115 of my 2023 Journal

The way history is taught in schools, dripping from a curriculum, emerging from books written for “children” underestimating their intelligence will,…Read more

Hotel Beaumont and Starwars | Day 114 of my 2023 Journal

Just like the Hotel Beaumont was in many ways a re-play, we can never enter the same river twice, and watching Star Wars with Fjord was like visiting…Read more

Mama Mia Marathon | Day 113 of my 2023 Journal

It is so lovely to see a group of teenagers not afraid to show up in their nightgown, not afraid to be silly, not afraid to wear a pink unicorn jumps…Read more

Playtime | Day 112 of my 2023 Journal

Free play is at the center of Peter Gray's thinking, and I agree very much, especially with the “free” element. Play is this funny adult construction…Read more