I’m loving the slow start to this Camino, our choice to have this three-day landing/retreat before we physically begin walking our 100-km pilgrimage.
Yesterday, in our orientation session, I opened with an initial welcome of the group, Andre went over group ground rules rooted in respect, self-care, self-responsibility and what it means to travel in a group then led us in some group stretching. Brenda went over health and safety guidelines, handed out the art kits she’d made for us, and we had our first group art lesson, playing with color, paint, and materials.
Today, after breakfast, we spent the morning in a long, leisurely first writing session.
Even after teaching writing for more than 25 years, the first time that people read their writing out loud in a new class or retreat is still thrilling for me—each voice, each story, each response to the same prompt—so unique.
Yesterday, we’d all had a chance to introduce ourselves—where we were from, what we were leaving behind, why we’d chosen this particular journey. Each of us shared hopes for our journey—typical introductory questions.
But this morning’s session was different because we were meeting each other as writers. After I laid out the rules of writing practice and described several different ways we’d utilize writing on our pilgrimage, we entered silence, everyone set pen to paper, and I gave a couple of initial prompts: “Since I’ve come to Spain….” And “I’m standing on the edge of…”
Rather than let our words fester in our notebooks, we read them out loud. And that led to a different level of personal sharing. Our writing voices revealed who we are beneath the surface, ushering a deeper level of truth and vulnerability into the room. It always works that way. Every time.
I loved listening to this group read their initial writings—tiny little markers indicating, “This is where I’m starting from.” “This is what I’m thinking about.” “This is where I am in my life.” “This is why I think I’m here.”
Each time a new group comes together in their first class—whether they’re new writers, published authors, lifelong journalers, or people who haven’t picked up a pen in months or years—reading their writing out loud, revealing their unique writing voices, is an intimate sharing that never fails to move me.