Happiness Is That Way is the story of Cici Edwards-Jensen and Mike Jensen’s journey on the Camino Via de la Plata. I was fortunate to meet Cici and Mike at the Blue Mountains Camino Reconnect Retreat in May when I was assisting as a ‘hospitalero’. They walked the Camino Via de la Plata for 55 days in 2016 and have written a beautiful book describing both the challenges and happiness they found along the way.
Camino Via de la Plata is regarded as one of the toughest and is not usually the choice for a first time Camino. However Cici felt strongly that this was what she wanted and needed to do and Mike was fully supportive.
They encountered extreme heat for the first half and very heavy rain for the second. As many who are planning their first Camino, they anticipated many uplifting and joyous moments and time for personal reflection. They certainly found these. Often they were very well hidden but therefore all the more valuable.
This was one of the most enjoyable Camino accounts that I have read. It was refreshing to hear of their struggles with self doubt, sore feet, unrelenting heat and rain but also of the love that was evident throughout between Cici and Mike and their newly found Camino families.
Cici and Mike wrote alternating chapters and this provided both contrasting and complementary views of their experience and highlighted the fact that no two Caminos can be the same nor would we want them to be.
Happiness Is That Way will inspire and motivate you to search for the real truth within us all.
Diane Anderson
Happiness Is That Way
Walking Home A Pilgrimage from Humbled to Healed along the Camino de Santiago
Sonia Choquette New York Times best-selling author of The Answer is Simple ….
343 pages, B&W illustrations
Review: Julia Cameron, author of The Artists Way
“Sonia Choquette has a pilgrim’s ardour. Join her on the trail to an authentic self. Witness her passion and her humility. Prepare yourself to be inspired. Every footstep, every word, is a blessing.”
Jack Canfield, co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series
“… is real, raw, and honest. As she walks an ancient pilgrimage to work through her
devastating loss, grief, and abandonment, she finds the way back to a place of genuine
forgiveness and healing. As we, the reader, walk with her, we find the same for ourselves.”
My Review: Sonia takes us through her Part 1: The Humbling. This first 12 chapters tell her life at that time ie ‘Death’ to the moment when under her breath, as she settles into her final flight, her seat, says “Let the adventure being”‘ before arrival at Biarritz for her taxi, the last leg before her chapter, ‘Get Ready, Get Set’ to where in Part 11: The Healing begins from Day 1 in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Roncesvalles, with each days walk with Sonia, right through to Day 34 of her final days walk, from Amenal to Santiago de Compostella. Sonia stirs our appetites , instils a longing to do this Camino for ourselves as at the beginning of each chapter we see the kilometres set out before us, meet the people she meets, enjoy hours of silence, crawl into a village, town after a 24 kms walk that day, find a hostel, pass out. Sonia admits leaving at crack of dawn some days, finds a place for her Passport to be stamped, prays for help to get through the difficult days when needing to walk on a highway, needing energy to keep going. Sonia sings songs, hymns, admits to talking to herself, asks forgiveness for pain she may have caused to anyone back home, gradually frees herself. In between we sympathise with her as she is grateful for her walking poles, yet struggles to find new sandals, doctors her feet, downs pills to ease the pain, admitting that “The Camino was not only the path of forgiveness, it was also a path of great intention. To make this pilgrimage, one had to have great faith, as the challenges medieval pilgrims met along the route were often life threatening.” On another section of the walk Sonia cites her thoughts, complaints, yet acknowledges the more she walked, the more apparent it became that while there were things that made her unhappy, they were not at the root of what burdened her, her own fears, anger, not trusting others, need to do the work she was taught to do as that is what love looked like, how she needed to get away. Sound familiar?
Sonia at one stop sees a deck of cards called The Way, picks one up, sees they are insights from previous pilgrims, and reads “Don’t fear the criticisms of others.” “That piece of advice made me think.” “This was the day to leave the past behind and open my heart to living fully and freely in the present.” No wonder there are some books we can’t put down. Sonia doesn’t leave us there. We move forward, Sonia is now on Day 32, a 28 km day, heading this chapter on ‘Transition’. “Transition times are dangerous. If you don’t stay focused, crazy things can happen.” She reflects on the gifts the Camino has given her. What are they? Perhaps it is time to plan your own journey ie after reading Sonia’s ‘Walking Home’.
YR Sojourner
WALKING One Step At A Time by Erling Kagge
WALKING One Step At A Time Erling Kagge
Internationally bestselling author of SILENCE
Translated from Norwegian into English.
Reviews: “After having put my shoes on and let my thoughts wander, I am sure of one thing – to put one foot in front of the other is one of the most important things we do.’
‘Walking is a book about the love of exploration, the delight of discovery and the equilibrium than can be found in this most simple of activities.’
Personal Review: Interesting to read. It was Kagge’s parents who first took him walking. Kagge writes “ So much in our lives fast-paced. Walking is a slow undertaking. It is among the most radical things you can do.” This is a handbag sized book that can be read in one sitting on a train trip from Medlow Bath to Sydney and back. Kagge is deep thinking on benefits of walking, introduces the thinking of Einstiein, Socrates, also Hippocrates advice for walking….. “Walking sometimes means undertaking an inner voyage of discovery. You are shaped by buildings, faces, signes, weather, and the atmosphere. Maybe we were meant to walk. Walking is a combination of movement, humility, balance, curiosity, smell, sound, light and – if you walk far enough – longing.” So writes Kagge. I agree. A book for deeper thinking on ‘walking’ itself.
YR
Sojourner
The Day Was Made For Walking - Noel Braun
Noel Braun commenced his working life as a country school teacher, then moved into a corporate career which took him from Melbourne to Perth and Sydney. He has had a lifelong passion for writing and wrote the first words of his novels over forty years ago. After a busy career and raising a family of four, he has found the time in retirement to fulfil his long-held ambition to see his work in print.
Noel has written two novels; Friend and Philosopher and Whistler Street. He has published four memoirs. No Way to Behave at a Funeral describes his grief journey following the death by suicide of his wife Maris. The Day was Made for Walking continues his journey as he undertakes a pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago de Compostela through France and Spain. I Guess I’ll Just Keep on Walking and Keep Pressing On, Brother continue his exploration of the Camino through France, Spain and Portugal.
Noel presses on with his writing. He is a regular contributor to newsletters and is working on other manuscripts. He lives in the Snowy Mountains in the south-east of Australia and enjoys getting out in the national parks surrounding his home.
Noel is part of our Blue Mountains Camino Family having been guest speaker at Camino dinners, participant at AusCamino Festival 2017 and 2018, and completed the Blue Mountains Camino 5-Day Walk in September 2020. When travelling to Sydney, Noel endeavours to join in our last Saturday of the month Training Walks and Camino Meetup when time permits.
Follow Noel Braun's blogs or order his books
Will to Walk - Will Boag
Raising awareness for Parkinson’s disease by walking the Camino.
WILL BOAG - Each year since 2014 Will Boag, who has Parkinson's Disease, and his wife Corrie have walked many Caminos and other pilgrimages to raise awareness of Parkinson’s disease. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they have taken the opportunity to look at our own backyard, driving and walking around NSW in 2020. In 2021 Will and Corrie had planned to go to Germany if borders are open, or climbing hills and mountains in South Australia. In March 2021, Will and Corrie will be joining the Blue Mountains Camino 5-Day Walk from Penrith to Blackheath.
E-books A series of small books by Will and Corrie Boag in order to raise more funds, and hopefully spark ideas or/and enjoyment from your readings.
They all follow the same format. The general form shows Corrie and my experiences day by day, with a relevant photo. I then made up a saying that reflects something meaningful for me, followed by a poem that further highlights the day, but in a different form.
All of these writings have the added benefit of producing a neuroplastic experience as well, which challenged my brain. This is vital, as it is the brain that is mostly affected by Pd and is therefore more vulnerable to succumb to various unsettling symptoms including potential Alzheimers.
The books are progressive, so reading them in order from left to right highlights the progression of the disease as well as the steps taken to alleviate symptoms.
I hope some of the ‘over 200 poems’ delight you and some of the ‘over 200 sayings’ challenge you as you walk your path.
The e-books can be simply downloaded by clicking on them If you would like to make a donation simply follow the donation link. All monies go directly to Shakeitup where they are matched for research with the Michael J Fox Foundation, and ALL of these funds go towards finding a cure for Pd.
Read more about Will Boag and his journey with Parkinsons disease (Pd) Click here
