Along The Camino/At Basecamp Hollee Brock

ORIGINAL story that my precious brothers & sisters wrote for me on my birthday.

This episode gives important and playful context for the rest of the stories, which are essentially my response to walking the Camino de Santiago.
Hope you enjoy! (Helpful hint: If you love descriptive/philosophical ponderings..stick to the even numbers! If you appreciate imagination/ faith/ asking what COULD be...go for the odds.)
Wholehearted thanks to : *****Kellie Haddock- beautiful person/amazing musician {IG @kelliehaddockmusic and elsewhere @kelliehaddock} for the use of “Eden’s Dream” with Ben Shive and Sarah Masen  ****Brock Rustand for being an anchor & doing some impressive audio engineering  ****Krue for being you ****Ella for your spiral ****my Mom=best cheerleader ever **** my priceless family and friends ****Sockwell Socks =best socks ever & constant Camino companions ****All the people who maintain, support and cheer along the Camino de Santiago!

Imagination might seem like a dangerous thing to do, but perhaps, it's more dangerous not to.
As I walked, I began to ask for holy imagination. I had no idea how meaningful it would be.
“I had to walk enough miles to get here. To stop fighting, stop resisting this process of my brain becoming quiet and still because at first, it felt like I was losing something. It took this pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago to usher me into this strange new category of being where rather than empty… I was more like those fields lying fallow, waiting … That’s when, sure enough, here came my neighbor, who sat down with me and introduced herself as holy imagination and we began to tell some of the best stories. And here’s where the magic began.”

Thanks to Kellie Haddock IG @kelliehaddockmusic and @kelliehaddock 
for the use of “Eden’s Dream” with Ben Shive and Sarah Masen

“So now, that pilgrimage which was already underway inside me enters a stage I affectionately call ….“boots on the ground". So it was, and perfectly so, that on that beautiful evening I stood by that bronze arrow nestled into the cobblestones, at the top of that little hill, under that stone archway in the walls of Saint Jean Pied de Port. Some of you can picture it because you too have stood in that exact spot. Hopefully, though, all of us can picture it in our imaginations.”

Thanks to Kellie Haddock IG @kelliehaddockmusic and @kelliehaddock 
for the use of “Eden’s Dream” with Ben Shive and Sarah Masen

“It strikes me how utterly simple and undramatic the beginning is. There was no starting gun. I didn’t tell anyone I was leaving, or ask permission, or explain myself. I didn’t do anything but step out of the door and start walking. I felt sure that people would stare at me and whisper, “what does she think she’s doing- does she really think she’s just going to walk across Northern Spain?!”
Thanks to Kellie Haddock IG @kelliehaddockmusic and @kelliehaddock 
for the use of “Eden’s Dream” with Ben Shive and Sarah Masen

 Buckle your seat belts, here's where holy imagination starts making appearances!!!
“As we walked in sweet silence, maybe it was just me but the landscape seemed to become more vibrant when he walked by. The smells were more distinct, the colors clearer and stronger, even the animals seemed to be more animalish. The sheep were more sheepish. The birds flew a little more regally. The cows mooed with more meaning. Even me, creature that I am, felt more me-ish when I was near him. In fact, yes, it was like everything woke up a little more in his presence.”

Thanks to Kellie Haddock IG @kelliehaddockmusic and @kelliehaddock 
for the use of “Eden’s Dream” with Ben Shive and Sarah Masen