Back

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

Cecilie Conrad·Sep 27, 2023· 3 minutes

Rock, mango, sunset

The first day after walking had to be a little strange. Emotionally, I was all over the place, and practically starting over with what could be called normal felt challenging.

Yet - this is the point exactly.

Walking the Camino is like drawing a line in the sand, clearing all the chaos. When we began, I was stressed out and in need of peace. I almost did not want to walk it; I just wanted silence after eight months on the road. 



Somewhere on the way to Santiago, I realized it had passed. The stress. The confusion. The exhaustion. The present moment again was everything, and I felt ready for whatever.

A side goal of mine was to get stronger by walking so I could pick up my running habit after completing, so this is what I did on the first morning. It is all connected, as we all know, so I found the perfect spot while running. A stunning viewpoint, where we all later gathered on a rock.

The supermarket finally had the Spanish mangoes I had been craving since the beginning of summer but not seen until now, so we sat on the rock and enjoyed the immense beauty, the mangoes, the sunset, and each other.

Sometimes the moments are so happy, it is hard to stay in them, hard to understand they are real. Even hard to let all of that pass through the breath, the heartbeat - as if I am too small and the greatness of life is almost running me over.

We are enjoying the last days in this constellation, this group of pilgrims, and the goodbye moment is on the horizon. It is an amazing exercise in staying in the moment. The beauty is overwhelming, and the importance of the friendships is equally so.

The mangoes from Andalusia are ripe, dripping with luxury, and the mountaintops keep changing nuance as the sun sets; the energy is special, the rock still warm from the sun, and our abundance is as huge as our gratefulness.

Thank you, sunset, mangoes and rocks.

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

Roses are one of the garden disciplines to enjoy. Why do we even do it? Roses are delicate, vulnerable, and unique. They take time; they take skill; …Read more
I am not sure I like being productive and working to achieve my goals. I am not sure I like my top 3 from the daily to-do list, my set intentions, an…Read more
I sit with the pain. I feel it. I feel the deep love and allow the pain to be. It is all okay. The root is love. And love is the meaning of everythin…Read more
I have been wanting to write a book for a while now. Sometimes life throws something at you. At the right time, and the right place, in the right con…Read more
Else is 99 years. She approached me at my Grandads funeral some ten years ago, and told me who she was - she is the younger sister of my late grandda…Read more
There is a sadness creeping in as we do our last rounds in Denmark this summer. The price for the adventure is being paid right now. Only five weeks …Read more
When we came back from Sweden, we said goodbye to our oldest and delivered her back to her boyfriend and her home in Copenhagen. Then we drove to my …Read more
The summer nights are fantastic here, and with even one more sentimental emotion, we stick to our plan of leaving Scandinavia in high summer to get t…Read more
But worse, much worse, is to impose this ambition on OTHERS, Adults want to set the scene for their (or others’) children to learn to their highest p…Read more