I wouldn’t call what happened on this day a definite threshold, but it had all the signs of a significant shift in the lens through which I look at the world.

A handful of pilgrims asked as I walked by, “Are we going to get to hear more. That was beautiful.”

Nice way to end the day.

There were so many simple delights on the trail this day. We were in wine country and the grapes were ripe.

At day’s end I had this deeply grateful feeling. “Now I am on a pilgrimage,” I thought.

Then suddenly relief from the heat. A piercing, drenching downpour erupted from the clouds.

A few blocks later I arrived at a major 5-way intersection. No arrows. Now I knew. It was time to turn around.

It was a rich day. The highlight was meeting and walking with Javier from Argentina. How does one explain Javier?

I didn’t know what answers I would find, but I did know that I was trusting that “the Camino would provide.”

I was curious how it would be given the controversy over bathrooms in America and transgender individuals. Here gender didn’t matter. Just respect for privacy.

I knew pilgrims would be starting on the trail before daylight. The Camino Frances presents a particularly difficult challenge.

Immediately as I emerged from my albergue, I saw a lanky man with a headlamp and a backpack just below me on the road. Following him made sense.

“What is your intention for walking the Camino?” That is the question I knew I was going to be asked when arrived in Saint Jean de Pied Port to get officially registered for the pilgrimage.

I had nearly eight hours on the train which led to a rich time of reflection. One question surfaced almost immediately. It was “Where can I best serve?”

I knew I didn’t want to do this alone anymore. I would be starting out alone, but I wondered…

Pilgrimages really start the day that you commit rather than the day you take the first step on the trail.

I was feeling calm. In fact, not only calm, but liberated! I wrote in my journal on the flight from Calgary to Paris, “Opening! Opening! Opening!”

As I boarded the plane in Portland to Paris with a quick layover in Calgary, my heart was swirling with varying emotions associated with letting go.

It was my executive coach who first noticed that I had gone strangely silent.

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive…

I am nearly finished reading Susan Beaumont’s book, “How to Lead When You Don’t Know Where You are Going: Leading in a Liminal Season.”