have you ever heard of the ‘law of attraction’?
I have been reading about it a lot lately, and it’s like finally! I have a working explanation of this feeling - the best feeling in the world, which is, to live life as a habitually lucky person.
probably the most popular book explaining the “law of attraction” is this book called the secret. it’s a simple book, with glossy pages that take about an hour to read, but something inside it is so true and useful! it also explains something that i feel like i have already experienced, especially in the via francigena blogs that are the main piece of this website!
the basic idea is this: that positive or negative beliefs bring positive or negative experiences into a person's life.
that’s it! once I started reading more and more about this idea, so many little threads came together, in my story, and other stories I love so much.
when I was walking the via francigena, my goals were so clear to me every day. make it from point A to point B. eat, sleep, stay healthy to continue. there was this kind of miracle that happened everyday too, that even though I was getting lost in another country where I didn’t speak the language or have really well-thought out plans of where I was going to sleep, and what I was going to eat, it literally always worked out by sunset. there were several times I got lost - in the Juras, in Tuscany, outside of Langres where I was challenged to walk more than 26 miles in a day!! but it always worked out, and usually in the most serendipitous of ways. and I just came to rely on things working out, without questioning it. and that became my reality.
I wrote everyday and boldly put it out for people to read. I committed, as almost just a stylistic choice, to be appreciative of everyday and find the positives. when I was hurting, I simply wrote OUT that part out of the story. I knew my story was not to get hurt and stop. I knew my story was to stay strong enough to walk all the way to Rome, so, whatever pain I had was kept at bay until then.
a lot of people say there is a kind of magic on the camino, or when you walking.
yes, you are so connected to nature, and it’s true, something about fresh air and exercise is super healthy for the mind and spirit. and something about the camino I think also connects with religious beliefs we have inherited, that when we are walking to Santiago or Rome we believe we are in a realm where miracles are possible for us in this life.
but this magic doesn’t have to be limited to walking the camino if you can carry the positive mindset you can have walking into every arena of life.
one of the little mantras I had while walking was, “there are a million ways it can work out for you, you only need to find one” - that was true for every challenge I faced, as well as the big-picture challenge of getting from Canterbury to Rome.
the secret is that this principle can be applied to getting anyplace you want to go.