Arguing with Reality
“When you use the word should, you are arguing with reality.” —Tara Brach Tell me about a time you fought against reality . . . or a time you accepted it.
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The Power of Preparation
“I will study and get ready, and maybe the chance will come.” —Abraham Lincoln Tell me in detail about a time you prepared for an opportunity and what happened once you did.
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No One Ever Died From Writing
“Digging up the dark world, the things you don’t remember, releases a lot of energy. Brings to light things that have been covered up for a long time and they snap and crackle. Usually we try to control what we remember. Control leads to dull writing. . . . “Lose control. Let the mute, the
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Grounding Your Writing in a Place
“I think setting is, curiously, almost always underrated by the beginner or the amateur, and almost always of intense importance to the accomplished writer. Why is that? We only have space and time. I suppose that time happens of its own accord in a story: this happened and then that happened. Whereas place must be
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The Illusion of Security
“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in Nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” —Helen Keller Tell me about a time you went on a daring adventure—external
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A Delight
“Every day I see or I hear something that more or less kills me with delight, that leaves me like a needle in the haystack of light. It is what I was born for.” —Mary Oliver Tell me about something that delights you.
Getting Up Again
“Fall seven times, stand up eight.” – Japanese proverb Tell me about a time you fell down and got up again.
Obstacles to Writing
“Most commitments that keep me from my writing are masks that I put up to hide my fear and my failure to do what I need and want most to do. If my belief in my own work is strong, other commitments will adjust themselves. Human beings have free will. “If I could speak to
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Goodbye For Now From Laura
It’s time to close out this Creative Camino travel blog. It’s been a real pleasure creating it for you. I love modeling travel writing for my students. I love the discipline of creating these daily posts. I love having to write them on the fly, usually late at night when I should be sleeping. It’s
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Zero Kilometers Again?
It’s hard to know exactly what to say at the end of a journey as delightful and remarkable as this one. But I will try. Today, half our group got on airplanes to travel home or to new destinations; the other half opted for one more day together, traveling down to Finisterre, which some consider
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Scars
“Scars mark the places where life and sanity were threatened, ordeals endured, wounds opened and closed. They evoke a queasy awe in the best of us. We stare and look away, want to ask what happened but don’t dare broach the subject, as if these patches of mended flesh identified experience beyond the realm of
Kilometer Zero: Santiago
Today, we reached the final destination of our Creative Camino: Santiago de Compostela. We walked into the city from our hotel at kilometer 9. I didn’t get to do the final part of the Camino last year; I got sick and had to leave my own trip the day before we actually walked into the
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12 Kilometers to Santiago
I don’t know how the time has flown by so fast, but our Creative Camino is drawing to a close. Tomorrow we will walk into Santiago—kilometer zero—the destination of all the Caminos. After that, we’ll have one more day together as a group, and the morning after that, just a few days from now, we’ll
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35,000 Steps
Today was the longest walking day of our Camino pilgrimage. We walked over 16 miles. Now it is 6:30 PM and I am lying in my hotel bedroom right now with my feet up. I just massaged them with something called Green Goo Foot Care Salve, which is made of calendula, yarrow and comfrey. It
Rest Day
Today was the last “rest day” on our pilgrimage. From here on out, it will be a straight shot to Santiago, walking every day. I have loved the rhythm we created for this retreat, walking the last 100 kilometers of the Camino with five extra days off to focus on creativity. These extra rest days