There is a process that happens whenever one has been removed from their usual surroundings for a period of time and then has to re-familiarize with everything upon return. My best life example is when I come back from a long vacation to my work. It sometimes feels like I have amnesia and cannot even remember what I am supposed to be doing there. Thankfully, the kids come and I regain my composure and everything works out fine.
I also think about a person who has been confined in jail for a period of time, and then has to return to regular society and work to fit in and build a life again. I think this is my "go to" because I love to listen to crime pod casts and I spend a lot of time thinking about re-entry that wrongfully convicted people must endure.
Anyhow, I found myself in this exact situation when returning from 24 days away on the Camino. When I saw my kids for the first time, they looked different to me, almost as if a lot more time had passed. Those hugs when we saw each other were real. My dog was just plain pissed at me, and though he wanted to be cuddly, he just laid near me and stared at me, with a silent, "how could you have done this to me?"
When we drove across the bridge from the airport, I was astounded at how beautiful everything was, how clean the air smelled and how blue the sky was. We drove into our underground parking garage and I saw my car, covered in dust, and I realized I had not driven for so long. What would that feel like to be behind the wheel again?
But mostly, I was just so thankful. Thankful for my home, my kids, my dog, my car, the smell of the elevator at my apartment complex, how beautiful and inviting my home is. I almost immediately began to draw a bath and add aromatic bath salts and baby oil (my skin was so dry after so long in Spain.)
The kids wanted to go get some food across the street and when I was finished bathing, we sat together and ate at our dining room table. I loved listening to them talk about all that had been happening. I enjoyed telling them about the food in Spain and how delicious my chicken tacos were. You literally cannot find a taco in Spain to save your life.
I'm not sure how long it took me to lay on my bed, but when I did, it felt like heaven. I appreciated the soft, familiarity of my own space, my own people, my life.
I want to capture this feeling and hold onto it for the times when everything gets overwhelming. I want to take a snapshot of this exact moment in my mind so that I can return here frequently and re-experience this gratefulness that we so easily overlook.
I am incredibly thankful for my Camino experience. It provided important perspective in so many areas of my life that I truly feel I could never have achieved here just living in it. I needed that space and time away. I needed both the beauty, the freedom and the depravity of the Camino.
I am slowly re-assimilating to my life. I am not anxious to go out and do things. I really just want to savor my solitude and space, and re-enter society slowly.
I also think about a person who has been confined in jail for a period of time, and then has to return to regular society and work to fit in and build a life again. I think this is my "go to" because I love to listen to crime pod casts and I spend a lot of time thinking about re-entry that wrongfully convicted people must endure.
Anyhow, I found myself in this exact situation when returning from 24 days away on the Camino. When I saw my kids for the first time, they looked different to me, almost as if a lot more time had passed. Those hugs when we saw each other were real. My dog was just plain pissed at me, and though he wanted to be cuddly, he just laid near me and stared at me, with a silent, "how could you have done this to me?"
When we drove across the bridge from the airport, I was astounded at how beautiful everything was, how clean the air smelled and how blue the sky was. We drove into our underground parking garage and I saw my car, covered in dust, and I realized I had not driven for so long. What would that feel like to be behind the wheel again?
But mostly, I was just so thankful. Thankful for my home, my kids, my dog, my car, the smell of the elevator at my apartment complex, how beautiful and inviting my home is. I almost immediately began to draw a bath and add aromatic bath salts and baby oil (my skin was so dry after so long in Spain.)
The kids wanted to go get some food across the street and when I was finished bathing, we sat together and ate at our dining room table. I loved listening to them talk about all that had been happening. I enjoyed telling them about the food in Spain and how delicious my chicken tacos were. You literally cannot find a taco in Spain to save your life.
I'm not sure how long it took me to lay on my bed, but when I did, it felt like heaven. I appreciated the soft, familiarity of my own space, my own people, my life.
I want to capture this feeling and hold onto it for the times when everything gets overwhelming. I want to take a snapshot of this exact moment in my mind so that I can return here frequently and re-experience this gratefulness that we so easily overlook.
I am incredibly thankful for my Camino experience. It provided important perspective in so many areas of my life that I truly feel I could never have achieved here just living in it. I needed that space and time away. I needed both the beauty, the freedom and the depravity of the Camino.
I am slowly re-assimilating to my life. I am not anxious to go out and do things. I really just want to savor my solitude and space, and re-enter society slowly.
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