Off topic, but hey, it’s the weekend.

I am staggered at how good American TV is.

Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Homeland, Dexter, Boardwalk Empire…

I’m watching The Killing at the moment. Fabulous. Just finished watching House of Cards and The Americans – both are sensational. And gutsy unconventional storytelling.

Movies are becoming so predictable – big franchise tentpoles that have little engagement for me. Do I really believe that one of The Avengers will ever be in jeopardy? Do I care?

Exhibitors make their money from the candy bar. Distributors make their money from safe-bet comic book films. I hanker for the intelligence of cinema in the 70s. When Scorsese, Coppola, Hal Ashby, Billy Friedkin were in their prime.

TV is now where the smart storytelling lives. It’s so well written, so beautifully cast, stories and characters have the time to develop and become complex.

Breaking Bad has to be amongst the best tv I’ve ever seen. The performances, the writing, the audacity is breathtaking.

We really are in a golden age of TV.

What are your favourites?

Two quick questions –

What is the name of the Sydney based Camino association… and when are the next dinners / lunches? And who’s in charge of the organisation?

Second question, this relating to the book…

What do you think I should price it at, as an ebook?

Choices and Changes

I’ve  always believed that life is a journey from birth to death on which we are given opportunities to learn and grow.

Who we become, and how our lives turn out depends on the choices we make, and which learning opportunities we accept, which we decide not to pursue.

I think our choices are linked together like a long chain. What we decide at one point, dictates to a degree what our next set of choices will be. The links work together,  shaping us into the kind of person we eventually become.

I enjoy reading biographies, and listening to life stories. They remind me how diverse our life choices are, as well as often, how surprising and unexpected the resultant changes can be.

When I reflect on my own life,I often wonder who or where I would be if I had made different choices. I’m  sure this occurs to everyone from time to time.

For the past couple of years, I have been engrossed in peoples’ accounts of the Camino. Not one has said they didn’t  experience any changes at all – and some are astonishing by the degree of change described.

There are people who, having walked the Camino, went home, quit their jobs, dug up their roots and moved to Spain just to always be close to the Camino, this great agent of change!

I’ve  noticed, though, that most of the people I’m  learning about have been in the last half of their lives ; whether for economic reasons or otherwise, many pilgrims don’t  make it to the Camino until they are older.

Here’s  what I’m getting at –

Taking into account what the Camino has taught you about yourself and your life, how do you think that knowledge would have changed the person you became , if you had learned those things when you were younger?

Would you have made the same choices about what you wanted to do with your life, or who you spent it with?How would knowing more about who you are have played out ,if you had known it at the age when you were making life and career choices?

Would you have chosen the same lifestyle? How would the changes brought into your life on the Camino have shaped the choices you made about what you wanted your life to be?

The book cover artwork has come in –

It’s designed to work principally as a thumbnail on Kindle, iBooks etc.

However, the manuscript is now going to a big time publisher at Simon and Schuster in New York. So I’m going to hold off ebook publishing until I hear whether they want to take it on.

That said –  I will offer it as a free pdf next week for anyone on this blog who wants to read it.

Let me know which cover you like the best…

I'm going off Camino today to talk about rejection.

How do you see, how do you handle, rejection?

I had a script rejected overnight. This happens all the time in my industry. There are numerous stories which have gone down into myth about the famous movie scripts that got repeatedly rejected, then went onto make gazillions.

JK Rowling was rejected early on. And The Beatles, too.

I've been an independent filmmaker now since 1982, and I've had stuff rejected time and again. I've always regarded it as part of the process of making a film.

It's the Universe testing my resolve.

Do you really want to make this film? Do you really want to spend the next four years of your life on it? Will audiences be interested?

But supposing I've been wrong all these years.

Supposing rejection is the Universe telling me I'm going the wrong way. Putting up barriers to stop me heading down a road I'm not destined to go down?

Should life be a struggle to test resolve? Or should it be easy, without barriers and roadblocks?

Is rejection the Universe's way of redirecting you onto your proper path, whatever that might be?

Arlene is doing a guest blog today –

She’s soon to be doing her second Camino, and yesterday she went to a medium for guidance. Here’s what happened –

I made an appointment with a fellow artist who just happens to be an Astrologer and a Medium.  I wanted to find out if there is anything I should be aware of during my upcoming Camino.

I am hoping for this, my second Camino, to be a wonderful and enlightening experience.  An experience where I will take the time to feel the wonder all around me.  A time in which I am open to the spiritual guidance and experiences that happen all along the Way. 

My first Camino was for the most part, just a very long walk, I never stopped to smell the roses or took time to focus on anything other than the distance I needed to cover before I could sleep.

 Catherine was seeking instruction and guidance on a mosaic mural she is creating for her outdoor space. We spoke of her mosaic and I offered one or two suggestions.  Truly she doesn’t need my guidance; she is a talented artist on her own.

 I have met with her before in her capacity of Astrologer/Medium so she had already created my Natal Chart.  I am a Taurus; my moon was 26 degrees in Libra; Gemini was rising; Mercury was in Gemini; Neptune was ruling the 5^th house and the North Node was in Taurus. 

Simply put, all of this means I am a communicator, a teacher, very grounded to the earth’s energy and have a very strong artistic ability.

 She read my astrological chart for today.  All looks positive for my upcoming Camino.  She sees a chance to create some art in Europe probably next year.

(This is something that is already in the works, however I had not spoken of it with her.  I will be meeting with the owner of a Casa Rurale in Ventosa on September 17th this year to come up with a plan for me to create a mosaic mural on their garden wall.) 

 She told me she sees in my chart an affiliation with a film maker and/or several film makers working on a documentary type of film, she believes I will appear in one or two productions. 

I find this to be another coincidence a) because of Bill’s profession and b) because a member of the APOC chapter I lead is a documentary film maker and would like to feature me in her documentary about the Camino that she will be filming next April/May. 

Again I had not mentioned this to Catherine.

 The Medium believes I should write a book of my Camino experiences and she spoke of the picture I should use for the book cover.  She recommended I take many photographs and include them in my book – after all “a picture is worth a thousand words.” 

Another coincidence; I began writing a book of my experiences last year and decided to wait to complete the book until I complete my upcoming Camino.

 After she did the astrological reading, she channeled her guides and they began to speak to me. 

 First thing they told me was to do was take notes. 

 Then I was asked to speak the phrase that I repeat often to myself since my return from Camino Numero Uno.  That phrase is “God in me, as me”.  I don’t know where the phrase came from, but it stays in my mind and I speak it to myself often.

 I was told it should become my mantra.  I should speak it to myself often; concentrate on the words and the meaning.  Repeat it several times over; it will help me when I feel low or am questioning the purpose or reason for things. 

 I am a divine conduit.  God is in me and I am with God.

 They spoke of my upcoming Camino as being wonderful experience.  Many things will be revealed to me this time around.

 I will receive inspiration by allowing it to happen, by being open to it.  Inspiration has the word spirit in it; the spirits on the Camino will inspire me – the spirits of all pilgrims who have walked before me.  Creativity, the product of inspiration, is God in action, I was told.

 When I need inspiration, I should touch water – put my hands in it, put my feet in it, immerse myself in it. Water is a great conduit and will make me more receptive to the wonders the Camino will show me as well as help me with my art.

 While on Camino, I should be out in the evening. But I should only walk the Way if there is full moonlight. I should let the moon and the stars bathe me in their light.  A moon and/or star bath will enhance my experiences on the Camino.  I should become one with the stars in the sky as I watch them light the Camino that I will travel.  This should be done often while I am on Camino this year.

 Because I am born under the astrological sign of Taurus, I am very connected to the earth. And because of that, I should take my shoes off and feel the ground beneath my feet often during the day while on Camino. 

This practice will keep my steadfast on my journey and awaken my heart and soul to the inspiration of the thousands of others who have walked this path before me.

I needed the first Camino to open me to the wonders that will unfold for me during this Camino.  I was informed that I would walk the Camino de Santiago again another time, but that third Camino will take me in a totally different direction that the first two had me walking. 

Another coincidence, I will be walking northward to Santiago on the PGS Camino Portuguese during April of 2014.

 Finally I was asked about the art I am currently struggling with.  It is a mosaic of a Japanese Koi pond for the patio in my yard. The guides suggest I make the lotus flowers in various stages of opening up.  The lotus flower will signify the opening of my spirituality – the very purpose of my Caminos!

 And so the guides bid me Adieu and Bon Chemin! 

I'm missing Spanish food.

I ate well on the Camino. And I didn't lose weight, principally because I ate so well.

Usual day –

Breakfast – Mother's cake, or Tortilla, or toasted ham and cheese sandwich. Two coffee, sometimes three. Ordered at the same time. One after the other.

Lunch – pilgrim's meal; first course of white bean soup, or paella, or pasta. (Never the mixt salade). Second course grilled chicken, or pork, or thin steak. Third course ice cream. Two Coke Zeros.

Afternoon snack – block of chocolate. Another Coke Zero.

Dinner – either pilgrim's meal again. Sliced chorizo or charcuterie (Spanish cut meats), steak or chicken, home made flan for desert. Red wine, constantly replenished, thanks very much.

Or –

I go out to a bar/restaurant, where I have a single steak, a big bloody chunk of cow flesh, grilled, and a decent bottle of wine. At least €4 worth. Home made desert. (Avoid the fresh fruit salad)

I know there are some people love Pulpo (Galician octopus) – its not a favourite of mine. Nor paella.

My favourites? Lentil and chorizo soup, steak grilled over a wood fire, and rice pudding. Oh, and Coke Zero.

Yummy.

Here is the proposed itinerary for the Camino Portuguese Tour I’ll be leading in April 2014.

The itinerary includes a side trip to Braga, to see the incredible Bom Jesus church on a mountain overlooking the town. Jennifer and I were there in May, and it’s magnificent. (photo below)

The itinerary will also have us arriving in Santiago in time for the Easter Sunday Mass in the Cathedral – and all the Easter celebrations in Santiago. Again, it should be amazing.

If you want to know more, there’s information on the forum – If you wish to come along, please visit the forum and put your name down. There’s a discount for PGS folk.

http://pgsthewayforum.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=14

Here’s the proposed itinerary, departing Porto April 6th:

Okay – use the bell baby! Let’s devote a post to cyclists.

My daughter and her boyfriend at the time, a renown restauranteur from the Basque country, cycled the Camino several years ago while she was working in Spain.

That’s how I first heard about the Camino.

He was very fit, she wasn’t – and it was tough for her. She got sick from drinking non-potable fountain water, but even so they cycled from Roncesvalles to SdC in 11 days, with two days off due to the illness.

She said that walkers don’t realise how difficult it is for cyclists – you have to literally carry your bike, laden with all your packs, over some sections that are too rocky or steep to cycle. Also her brakes failed going down the hill from the Cruz de Ferro. She nearly killed herself.

Also, they encountered some hostility from some pilgrims, who resented cyclists. They had their tires slashed one night.

Also, there were some albergues that wouldn’t accept them until all the walking pilgrims had got beds – cyclists were second on the priority list.

My personal experience with cyclists was always very favourable. I remember having a wonderful chat with a fellow – a cyclist from Germany – while we climbed up Alto de Perdon. He was walking his bike, because the track was too rough.

I remember wondering at the time how difficult it must be hauling the bike up rocky mountain tracks.

The way I figured it, the cyclists were very skilled riders and there was never any chance of them knocking me over. And most of them always called out something cheery as they passed.

They were all part of the colour and texture of the Camino. Plus I did take a terrific shot of a Japanese cyclist, on the Meseta –