I have been doing some recent searching through the archives to find information on bag transport companies for a friend, and I have repeatedly come across a phrase that to me is like fingernails going over a chalkboard. And so, at the risk of sounding preachy and like a know-it-all, I would like to say that I think it would be great if we could relegate the "it's your Camino" mantra to the ash-heap of history and banish it from our vocabulary.
In my opinion, this feel good statement paints an inaccurate picture of the Camino that lies ahead for forum members. It's not YOUR Camino, it's THE Camino, a pilgrim path that has been followed by millions and millions of people over the ages. Each one of us who embarks on a Camino is but a tiny part of it. We do not own it, we are visitors on it, we have a responsibility to it. I know there is currently a huge debate about who gets to call the shots on it, but I think it’s pretty clear that we forum members do not get to call the shots.
I think the "it's your Camino" people were originally motivated by a caring inclusiveness, trying to push back against the purists, each of whom used a different standard to evaluate who is and who is not a "real pilgrim." But there is a huge difference between being arrogant and judgmental about who is walking the Camino in the "proper" way, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, adopting the totally standardless and self-indulgent idea that you can walk "your Camino" any old way you want, and that no one has any right to criticize, to call you out, or to be upset when they see you are acting in a sacrilegious, inappropriate or demeaning way. Wrapping yourself up in a bubble of "it's my camino" does nothing to further the cause of creating respect and even awe for the sacredness of these routes, it just creates a mantle of entitlement. I am not a religious person, but I have had enough magical camino experiences to know that there is something here that is transcendent, something that makes it almost sacrilegious for me to claim any ownership of the Camino. We may not have any control over how others walk the Camino, but I think we do a disservice to the Camino by pushing a self-centered approach here on the forum, when really we ought to be pushing the idea that each of us has a huge responsibility to respect the Camino and to avoid acts that interfere with its essence, even though we may not ever agree on what that essence is.
I hope I haven't offended anyone, that was not my intent -- but this has been bubbling around inside me for a couple of years now and I thought it was time to get it off my chest. Buen camino, Laurie
In my opinion, this feel good statement paints an inaccurate picture of the Camino that lies ahead for forum members. It's not YOUR Camino, it's THE Camino, a pilgrim path that has been followed by millions and millions of people over the ages. Each one of us who embarks on a Camino is but a tiny part of it. We do not own it, we are visitors on it, we have a responsibility to it. I know there is currently a huge debate about who gets to call the shots on it, but I think it’s pretty clear that we forum members do not get to call the shots.
I think the "it's your Camino" people were originally motivated by a caring inclusiveness, trying to push back against the purists, each of whom used a different standard to evaluate who is and who is not a "real pilgrim." But there is a huge difference between being arrogant and judgmental about who is walking the Camino in the "proper" way, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, adopting the totally standardless and self-indulgent idea that you can walk "your Camino" any old way you want, and that no one has any right to criticize, to call you out, or to be upset when they see you are acting in a sacrilegious, inappropriate or demeaning way. Wrapping yourself up in a bubble of "it's my camino" does nothing to further the cause of creating respect and even awe for the sacredness of these routes, it just creates a mantle of entitlement. I am not a religious person, but I have had enough magical camino experiences to know that there is something here that is transcendent, something that makes it almost sacrilegious for me to claim any ownership of the Camino. We may not have any control over how others walk the Camino, but I think we do a disservice to the Camino by pushing a self-centered approach here on the forum, when really we ought to be pushing the idea that each of us has a huge responsibility to respect the Camino and to avoid acts that interfere with its essence, even though we may not ever agree on what that essence is.
I hope I haven't offended anyone, that was not my intent -- but this has been bubbling around inside me for a couple of years now and I thought it was time to get it off my chest. Buen camino, Laurie
.........
But I appreciate that so many people understood what I was trying to say and overlooked the know-it-all preachy part of it.
