RONCESVALLES
Keynote: Courage

Being able to summon the strength to take the first step in a journey. Allows the body to access the reserve of energy needed for the initial change into new ways of being.

As I sat in the pilgrim’s office in St. Jean Pied de Port, I wanted to begin my pilgrimage, but conventional wisdom suggested I had arrived at the starting point too late to do the first day’s 25km/15 mile walk up and over the Pyrenees into Spain. Yet, I was very eager to start.  Then again, part of me was unprepared to hike that day. I was wearing long pants and my bag was filled with extra food and stuff that I had planned to jettison before hitting the trail. But a group who had arrived on the train with me had decided to begin, so I quickly joined their pace and set off. I needed reserves of physical energy that first day when I climbed up and through the mountains. And for that reason the Flowers that I collected on those rolling plains and lush mountaintops helped to fuel the first leg of my journey.  When I got to the first night’s destination of Roncesvalles, I knew the trail had already given me the gift of the strength to begin.

“Simply holding a bottle of Roncesvalles ignited a shift.  Not a tiny moment, a huge shift in momentum, productivity, clarity, trust, increased energy, joy, focus, ideas, organization, and yes, courage.  A resurfacing of the initiative to roll up the sleeves, with vision, trust, and focus and take action, without knowing all the details, allowing the path to walk me as I walk the path.”  P.L., Keswick, VA

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