A year ago I was walking the ancient pilgrimage called the Camino de Santiago. I was in northern Spain with some of my closest friends and a gracious Spanish guide named Javi. The second or third day of the journey Javi urged me to take my shoes and socks off and walk part of the […]

Some who know me well might say the statement, "Alice is a disciplined person" is an understatement. I get it. I like a schedule, a rhythm, a routine. Some might call me tightly wound. That's ok. But let me tell you what the Camino taught me. It's ok to be disciplined in the every day. […]

On the third day of walking the Camino I had a painful realization. I wanted to go back and start over. I had been so anxious, nervous, excited, uncertain as we started walking that very first day that I did not settle down enough to actually pay attention. I was overwhelmed with the beauty. I […]

"Heaven and earth," the Celtic saying goes, "are only three feet apart, but in thin places that distance is even shorter." The Camino felt like a very thin place. The air heavy with the weight of centuries of pilgrims. The soil itself felt holy. I barely have words to explain it. But I do have […]

I think one of the things I loved most about the Camino is that I was unplugged. Unhooked. Undistracted. I had no work to do other than to walk to our next destination. I only used my phone to take photos during the day. I listened to no news. I did not have to mow […]

The third day of the Camino I noticed the ferns. They were everywhere; growing - almost impossibly - out of the side of ancient stone walls. Ferns at every stage - baby ferns, newly unfurled ferns, old and established ferns, and even dry, brown ferns at the end of life. It was the baby ferns […]