Chapter 1 – Divinely Orchestrated Chaos
For me, there is only traveling on paths that have heart,
And the only worthwhile challenge
Is to traverse its full length,
And there I travel
Looking breathlessly.
Carlos Castaneda
The Teachings of Don Juan
A Yaqui Way of Knowledge
Walking helps me write.
Writing helps me understand.
I have never walked the 500 mile Camino de Santiago in Spain like so many writers seeking to find themselves do.
Nor, have I ever walked the 1,560 mile Pacific Crest Trail like Cheryl Stayed did when she wrote “Wild.”
But the other day I did walk 6 mailboxes.
Me on foot, pushing Jess in her wheelchair.
It was the first time in seven years, other than going to or from a hospital, that she has been part of the outside world.
The first time that she has felt the warmth of the sun.
Or the coolness of a breeze.
Or heard a bird sing, or a plane fly by.
Many people go on thousand mile excursions to become one with the universe and to find themselves.
I only needed to walk 6 mailboxes in my own neighborhood.
Granted it took me 7 years and every ounce of energy I could muster up to accomplish this.
6 mailboxes don’t seem like a journey to most.
Believe me, it is the furthest I have ever traveled in my life.
And it was more grueling and required more endurance than if I ran a triathlon, every day, for each and every day of the last 7 years.
No, I didn’t find the meaning to life on the Camino de Santiago, or the Pacific Crest Trail, like most others do.
I found it on Victoria Lane.