PC #107 – A friendly review…

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A dear friend, Libby, read my book and sent me an email yesterday, which I’ve now posted below.

The version of the manuscript I sent her though had a first draft epilogue. I changed it in subsequent drafts, and when I read her email I sent her the new epilogue – so I post that too, and her reaction to it.

Libby is not a NY Times critic, or someone unknown to me who’s bought the book from Amazon then sits down to critique it – she is, if you like, friendly fire.

But she’s exactly the demographic for this book – and whilst she’s a mate and a sweet sweet lady, she’s also a hard-headed businesswoman who’s intensely smart doesn’t mince words when she needs to. That’s why I value her comments here.

I am still waiting on the formatting guy – and I’m also still waiting on the cover art from my poster company. Both have been promising delivery for a while now. I’m hoping I’ll get it all by the weekend, and I can begin to get the completed book out onto the e-publishing sites next week.

As soon as it’s all done I will send a copy free to those of you who want one. Let me know if there’s any urgency and I’ll send a pdf – which will be the same text, just not in full book form with the snazzy formatting etc.

Anyway, so here’s what Libby had to say – then my redrafted epilogue – then her response.

Hi Bill,
 
Just wanted to let you know I finally finished your book – told you I was a slow reader!!
 

I absolutely loved it. I’m being totally honest when I say I didn’t want it to end – probably much the same as you felt at the end of your walk. I was disappointed right along with you when you walked into Santiago. The last few days seemed to go so fast!

I did miss hearing a few more of your musings once the journey was over, probably because of all I’ve read on the blog, I remember one post in particular where you pinpointed the “meaning of life” down to being about love.

I would have liked to hear more of your conclusions about what you took from the journey.
 
What’s that saying? – these are not criticisms, merely observations. I thought your writing was honest (alarmingly so!! I now know the state of your undies when you arrived in Santiago!!), witty, and very personable – very you!
 
As I say, I could have happily read on and on. As a Camino novice, I loved that you didn’t try to hide the difficulties of the walk, but inspired me to think that even I could one day, “step by step” manage a journey like this one – something that I would have seriously considered impossible a few short months ago.
 
Congratulations Bill! It’s a wonderful book, and one that I am sure will become compulsory reading for all pilgrims past and future. Thank you for allowing me to read it.
 
Love,
Lib xx
 
Here’s the epilogue that was in the later draft –
 

Epilogue

To walk the Camino is to do a pilgrimage. 

That’s what I did – I became a pilgrim.

I followed in the footsteps of millions of other pilgrims who, over the years, the decades, the centuries, have made their way to Santiago.

What did I learn?

GRATITUDE:

I learnt to be grateful. Grateful for simple things.

For a bed at night. For clean clothes in the morning. I was grateful when it didn’t rain. I was grateful when the pain receded.

I learnt the meaning of gratitude.

HUMILITY:

I learnt humility.

My pain humbled me.

Other people humbled me too –

People who walked much further than me. People with pain much greater than mine.

Ultimately though, I was humbled by the occasion. By just walking the Camino.

That in itself was humbling.

THE POWER OF INCREMENTS

I learnt I could achieve big goals by taking small steps.

 A lot of small steps.

But only if I didn’t give up until I’d reached my goal.

MY POSSESSIONS ARE MY BURDEN:

I carried everything I needed on my back. Up and down mountains, across plains, over rivers.

My possessions were my burden. Anything unnecessary was an unnecessary burden.

It’s the same in life. My possessions are my burden.

JUDGE NOT:

There were so many times I judged people.

People I thought old and frail. People I thought not as capable as me.

Actually I mis-judged them. I was wrong.

I learnt that I must never judge, and never underestimate others.

 MIRACLES ARE POSSIBLE:

I discovered I was able to overcome obstacles I didn’t think possible.

And I saw miracles.

My pain left me on the Meseta. My eyesight improved. But perhaps the greatest miracle of all is that I changed.

 I BRING FORTH WHAT I FEAR THE MOST:

I learnt that what I fear the most, I bring into my life.

I was scared of steep climbs. Scared I wouldn’t make it. And because of my fear, I nearly didn’t.

I was scared my knee would thwart me.

It nearly did.

What I fear, I attract. 

THE WORST THAT CAN HAPPEN ISN’T SO BAD:

I discovered a magic mantra: What’s the worst that can happen?

Say that, and my fear disappears.

Because the worst that can happen invariably isn’t so bad after all.

I can deal with it.

So why should I live in fear?

 I CAN TRUST MY PGS:

I learnt I could trust my PGS – my Personal Guidance System – my intuition.

It shepherded me dextrously along the Camino.

The times I ignored it were the times I had difficulties.

The times I trusted it were the times I experienced something wonderful or profound.

 EVERY DAY IS A PILGRIMAGE:

I learnt that I don’t need to walk the Camino to be a pilgrim.

I can be a pilgrim every day of my life…

If I see my life as a pilgrimage.

WHAT DID I ULTIMATELY LEARN?

That the only thing that matters – that truly matters – is love. 

And here is what Libby said in response –

LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!!!!!
 
That’s exactly what I wanted at the end! Your book is now officially perfect!
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PC #106 – The next few days…

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The next few days I’m driving –

Tomorrow I drive about 500mls from Mudgee up to a wine/apple district called Stanthorpe, just across the border into Queensland.

Every year at this time my family – mother, brother & family, two sisters and families – converge on this small country town to have a get-together. My mother is 86, and so we value this time with her each year.

Stanthorpe is mainly an apple growing area, but it also has some fairly desultory vineyards – but it’s the only wine area within driving distance of Brisbane, where my family lives.

There’s an Italian restaurant in town which has an all-you-can-eat buffet, and that’s another attraction. Each year we take it upon ourselves to try and send the restaurant broke the night we eat there.

All this would be good except that the night I’m due to have this nosh-up, the Swans are playing in a sudden-death semi-final – and I’ll miss it on telly. You have no idea what a test this is for me – to miss this game for a pig-out with my mum and my kin.

The next day, I drive 500mls back home. So, a thousand miles in three days. I will keep blogging though, and take some photos along the way…

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PC #105 – A tangible instance of change…

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My son, aged 28, is a cinema buff. His knowledge of Asian cinema far surpasses mine.

There is a very famous and highly regarded Japanese filmmaker, his name is Takashi Miike. He makes very graphic, very violent, outrageous films. He takes the rules of cinema and throws them out the window. Scholars have done PhDs on his body of work.

One of his famous, or infamous, movies is called Ichi the Killer. My son wanted me to watch it with him today. I’d seen some of the movie before, but hadn’t seen it all the way through. My son wanted me to see the film in its entirety. It’s one of his favourites.

Right at the start there’s a very graphic rape scene. And then later the same woman is raped and bashed again. I found it very disturbing. And partway through the film, I asked my son to turn it off. I told him I couldn’t watch it anymore.

He was disappointed, and reminded me that last time I’d watched it, I’d regarded the scenes of violence as an important part of the narrative, and I’d admired the over-blown outrageous nature of it all.

This time I couldn’t stand it. I simply couldn’t watch it, no matter how virtuoso the cinematic artistry was.

As my son was packing away the DVD, he asked me why I was so reactive this time. Last time I’d seen the film, I’d enjoyed it.

I told him: Now I’m a pilgrim...

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PC #104 – Conversations…

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One of the great pleasures of walking the Camino is the opportunity to have some pretty interesting conversations with some very interesting individuals.

The Camino acts as a lubricant. It gives you license to talk to people that you don't even know. That you only just met. That you wouldn't normally talk to.

Sometimes those conversations rarely get beyond blisters and sore feet and the next day's stage. There's a lot of those conversations on the Camino.

But then there's those conversations that you remember for the rest of your life. That change your life.

The Camino fosters intimacy. And so your talk can get very deep very fast.

And you might not ever see that person again.

One of my regrets from my Camino is not hanging back and talking to a bloke about the nature of the universe. An engineer from South Africa. I had more miles to do that day. I wished I'd stayed and talked to him.

These Camino conversations can be profound.

And can be part of the transformative process of the pilgrimage.

A chat that at the time seemed random and inconsequential can, on later reflection, be what you needed to fix what needed fixing.

The Camino works in mysterious ways…

 

 

Camino Portuguese Tour 2014

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In April 2014, Bill Bennett will lead a tour from Porto to Santiago, arriving in time for the city’s extraordinary Easter celebrations.

Below are the main details:

  • Cost: US$3950 (twin share)
  • Fully guided Tour
  • 14 nights
  • *** Hotel accommodation
  • Breakfasts & dinners included
  • Side trip to Bom Jesus in Braga
  • Arrive in Santiago for Easter celebrations
  • Daily photographic tutorials
  • Dedicated van for transport of pack and pilgrim, if needed!
  • Local liaison & translator
  • Celebratory dinner in Santiago.
  • Pilgrim’s welcome pack; which includes Guidebook & maps, Credential, and Shell

Tour Operator – Flight Biz / Duncan Ford

Duncan Ford has been a Licensed Travel Agent for over twenty years. His company Flight Biz has been organizing spiritual tours for the past six years, and has sent over a thousand people to Brazil to visit John of God. He’s also been organizing art tours to Italy for the past eleven years.  (Licensed Travel Agent # 2TA5267)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, GO TO: 

http://www.pgspilgrimtours.com

TO BOOK –

Contact: Duncan Ford, Flight Biz
duncan@flightbiz.com
+61 403 035 463 m
+61 2 9569 8809 ah
http://www.flightbiz.com

FOR TOUR INFORMATION –

Bill Bennett
billpgstours@gmail.com
+61 412 944 777 m
Blog: www.pgspilgrimtours.com
Forum: www.pgsthewayforum.com
Photos: www.billbennett.zenfolio.com/Camino2013

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PC #103 – A Camino movie?

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I woke up with the fully formed idea for a Camino movie.

And my PGS telling me I should do it.

If this is like any other movie I've done, it will now take a minimum of two years to get it to financing stage. Getting the script right.

Then another two to three years before it hits the screens.

That's how long movies take to make.

You need a great script to attract cast, and you need great cast to attract finance. The film industry works in a very linear manner.

But, the way I'm thinking of tackling it, it will have universal appeal. And hey, I've done the research already!

But, should I do it?

If the film gets made, it will mean more people walking the Camino.

Personally, I've never seen that as an issue.

If the Camino is so transformative and restorative – if it has spiritual and health and social benefits – then why shouldn't more people know about it?

 

 

PC #103 – The Importance of Story

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I spent this evening watching a fascinating documentary with my son. It was called Indie Game – The Movie. And it was about several independent video game designers, and what they went through to make their games.

They were/are true geniuses, and extraordinary artists.

I don’t play videogames – never have, and I don’t have the time now to learn the language. But the film spoke to me about the shifting shape of story, and the importance of story in our lives.

These videogames, the really smart ones (and yes, believe me there are some incredibly smart and artistic games out there) just open out the mind. Not all video games are violent shoot-em-ups with blood and gore, just like all movies aren’t dumb franchise tentpoles.

There are some amazing independent art films made each year, just like there are some amazing independent videogames.

The capacity to tell stories in different forms has exploded in recent times. The best videogames tell the most touching and profound stories. E-publishing has opened up opportunities for authors who might have been denied a platform in past years – denied by agents and publishers who are now scratching to hold onto their jobs in a quickly shifting landscape.

Journalism too is undergoing fundamental change. Photojournalism too. Bloggers and others are shifting into the place where journalists once reigned supreme.

But we still need quality journalism. We still need the Woodwards and Bernsteins. The Seymour Hershs. (He broke the My Lai massacre, and changed the course of the Vietnam War. He later broke Abu Grhaib.)

Blogs are a new form of storytelling. Twitter is instantaneous communication, but in 140 characters twitterers, (or “twits!”) tell their stories. Facebook and Instagram are a new form of storytelling too. YouTube and Vimeo offer the kind of video storytelling that wasn’t possible ten years ago.

We need stories. We need stories to learn, to grow, to understand, to proselytise, to change the world.

I am proud to say I’m a storyteller.

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PC #102 – Portuguese Tour website

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I’ve been missing off the blog for most of today because I’ve been hunkered down doing an arm wrestle with WordPress.

I now have a site for the Portuguese Camino Tour.

http://www.pgspilgrimtours.com

I’d love to do a tour a year – depending on work commitments. And so I’ve set up an entity called PGS Pilgrim Tours. Pretty cool huh?

The Tour site still needs a little refining, but it’s got most of the information that’s needed.

The travel agent is now marketing through his networks, and getting a strong response.

Seems there’s very real interest out there in the pilgrimage we all love so much!

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PC #101 – Guest post – Jill Momper

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Jill Momper is an extraordinary lady who, at the tender age of 70, is going to walk the Camino for the first time next year.

She lives in a small town north of Atlanta, Georgia. Here she tells us a little bit about herself, and her thoughts and feelings in preparing for the Camino.

JILL MOMPER – 

I’ve never lived more than 50 miles from where I grew up, although I’ve traveled out of the country many times. I belong to a local hiking club and we hike frequently in the North GA mountains near the start of the Appalachian Trail.

I recently started a walking group of retired women. We call ourselves ‘the street walkers’ as we carry out our walks around town on city streets. I can tell you the name raises some eyebrows 🙂

I retired 5 years ago after working in marketing and advertising for 30 years.

I’m not sure what first sparked my interest in the Camino. I’ve gathered together all the articles and books I’ve collected for more than 10 years, and can find no beginning.  Just the date of an article I printed off the internet of September 16, 2003.

I’ve mentioned the Camino in conversation a few times over the years; our church sent the youth group to Spain two years ago and they walked a few miles which brought it back to mind. But it was a chance conversation with my son, where I said I’d always wanted to go but couldn’t find anyone else interested, and he said he’d love to walk with me.

It was the last thing I ever thought I’d hear from him, being a husband and father of 4 small children. It was then I decided to pursue my dream whether he can join me or not.

In February of this year we both attended a meeting about walking the Camino at an REI in Atlanta conducted by Tom Beck, founder of the Atlanta chapter of Americans on the Camino.  He has graciously offered to help me plan my way.

About myself.  I’ve always been a walker, my family were walkers. All the trips I’ve taken in the last 15 years involved hiking. Perhaps my PGS has been preparing me for this?

I am married to a man who hates to walk, which is funny because I plan our vacations and that’s what they revolve around. On our last trip, he said he was finished with hiking. So, that gave me permission to go this one alone.  And isn’t the Camino a solitary experience anyway?

I don’t know why I’m going, I just am.

Everything I’ve read says the countryside is beautiful and it is a life changing experience. What I’d like to do is rediscover the essential Jill, unencumbered by monikers such as wife, mother, grandmother.

Currently, I intend to walk the Frances in September 2014 starting in Leon, but it will depend on how I’m feeling as to how far I can walk.  If not Leon, then Ponferrada, or at least Sarria.

What I fear is that I may have waited too long. At the age of 70 any kind of health issue can arise without warning. I am fairly fit, but my age definitely weighs on me.

I don’t fear the journey, just regrets for not going sooner.

Jill

PC #100 – End of Summer

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Now that it's the end of summer, I'd be really interested to know how it panned out…

Did the crowds through July and August cause any problems for anyone?

Any accommodation issues?

If so, how did you cope? Did anyone end up sleeping in sports halls or some other make-shift shelter?

Any problems arising from pilgrims being stressed and cranky?

And were there a lot of young people on the Camino during the summer months?

I'm just curious about anecdotal information – particularly it would be interesting to hear from anyone who can compare this summer to previous years…

(Has the movie The Way significantly increased the numbers?)