Los Arcos and La Rioja

What with Reina hogging the blog, it’s been difficult to keep up with discussing Lizzy’s Camino Essences while she walks through these places on her third Camino.

Today, I thought I would discuss Lizzy’s Essences from Los Arcos and La Rioja. She has just passed through Los Arcos and also the region of La Rioja and is heading today for an albergue Ben found in Granon during his Camino.

So move over Reina, I need the computer.

Here is Lizzy’s description from our Guide for the Los Arcos Essence.

LOS ARCOS
Keynote: Release
Finding the bravery to move ahead on your own and at the same time being open to support from unusual places and activities.

This was a particularly tough stretch of the trail for me. I was traveling with two souls that were very kind, but spoke no English. This night we slept in a small town at the base of a beautiful mountain with ruins of a castle on top. The village was nearly deserted. The only life was an ice cream truck that rolled through town in the afternoon. The castle could be seen from miles off and when it came into view I had one of those experiences of recognition that is core deep, but often completely mysterious. The next morning brought me to another internal crossroads. One of the Italians had left before dawn and the other was having severe problems with his achilles tendon and the dreaded tendonitis, something I also was starting to feel. On the flat and empty plains, covered in nothing but grain as far as the eye could see, I set off walking totally on my own. I was solo for the first time on the trip. When I lost sight of my Italian friend behind me, I knew I was truly in the universe’s hands. What that morning brought was the narrow and winding streets of Los Arcos, the most delicious cookies I have ever eaten in my life, as well as the company of an older German man who wanted to practice his English with me. He shared with me that his mother was named Elizabeth, just like me. These gifts though small, helped me to feel taken care of. I walked on with the growing awareness that the trail would support me along its length.

The theme of Los Arcos has been a big one in my life. Sometimes I’ve expected support from people whom conventional wisdom suggested would offer support only to find myself disappointed that the support is not there. It’s a pattern I can fall into which is why this Flower Essence has been a good friend for me. I’m always glad when I let go of my expectations and make the turn towards a different paradigm. These Los Arcos moments of release have been profound because the best things in my life have been the unexpected love and support from people I didn’t know and from realities beyond my ken.

As we have watched this Essence go out into the world, we hear back that it’s helped others as well to expand their sense of possibility about the imaginative ways we can care for each other- Perhaps what this Essence is really about is expanding our definition of self and experiencing that oft mentioned oneness more fully.

When I look for specific people to help me in any given situation, I act out limited illusions of us and others. When I relax into the truth of Los Arcos, I find myself in the marvelous expansive experience of oneness. My filters about where to expect things to come from are the thing that needs to go in most situations. These filters are what gives me pain. When I can embrace the true infinite love of oneness, the adventure is completely different.

One experience I had with this release process happened when Green Hope Farm was a young business. I expected friends and family of origin to be interested in what I was learning and interested in our Flower Essences. This isn’t what happened. I felt a lot of disappointment at the time about this, and it still strikes me as odd that we are much better known almost anywhere on Earth than we are in the village where I live, but in learning to lay down this expectation of where the interest and support for Green Hope Farm would come from, I opened up to wonderful friendships all over the Earth. In releasing my expectations, I was given so much more than I could imagine in you and in the ways the Flower Essences would serve others.
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Here is Lizzy’s description from our Guide for the La Rioja Essence.

LA RIOJA
Keynote: Creativity
Discovering your unique autonomy, cultivating your deep creative strengths, and then turning them into assets in obtaining the life you desire.

This essence came from a beautiful and very proud region of La Rioja. This small, but autonomous region is known around the world for its wines. Many hours were spent walking in rust red soil next to the fields where grapes grew. This summer happened to be one of the rainiest in Spanish history. The trail beside the vineyards was both breathtaking and crazy making, because the mud was thick, wet, and deep. It would cling to the soles of your shoes, and could topple your wobbly balance at any moment. I must admit I took a few not so graceful falls, but I blame it all on my pack. As I encountered clusters of people out in the fields and the occasional lone farmer, it became clear that the grapes were a source of life both economically and spiritually for the people of this region and for that reason the land vibrated with the energy of respect and gratitude.

I never quite saw the connection between this La Rioja Flower Essence and Los Arcos Flower Essence until today. I see how in letting go of my expectation about what my creative endeavors would look like and releasing my pursuit of people’s approval by doing creative activities that didn’t push so many buttons, I finally let myself go fully into my own creative realm where I could joyfully be me.

Many years ago when I told friends and family that Angels had encouraged me that I would find my livelihood through the Flowers I love, my sharing was greeted by disbelief, amusement and cynicism. I am a dogged earnest person not naturally given to cynicism so I kept going with the gardens even when others thought I was just deluding myself. How wonderful that in persisting, the Angels led us to Flower Essences that can support others to persist in their dreams.

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