Yes, the blog is called ‘i am an Artist’ and this first, FIRST! blog post seems to bear little in common with that overarching theme. But bear with me. It does. Both are about excavating the inner landscape. Both mine the experiences and perceptions of our lives for precious metal and artifact.  The hike up great mountains over distances more sustained than anything attempted before, changes the outer, physical landscape of one’s body too. And it’s almost as if this honing of the outer body is necessary to the process of reaching the inner.  As we push and marvel and curse and sweat, we give space for, allow space to, ultimately leach meaning and understanding from the stuff of our lives.

Walking the Camino Santiago is a life-changing venture for many who set out on its varied and historical terrain.  Its effects are numerous, significant and as I am discovering, can emerge long after the completion date.  The beginning posts that follow will be an attempt to describe what I experienced on the Camino Santiago but more importantly, witness what is emerging, when the backpack, poles and boots are put away and I reenter my life, after Santiago.