5. October 2011
We arrived in Santiago today, exhausted and pretty proud of ourselves. Receiving the “compostela,” the certificate from the church that recognizes your pilgrimage, is a pretty special moment.
A mass in the Catedral de Santiago de Compostela is enough to move anyone to tears, coupled with the fact that the celebrant recognized our little group of seven pilgrims with a special welcome. (I suspect Carlos, our guide/driver/creator of fun surprises, may have had something to do with that.)
After a day of group lunch and rest for the weary, we came together at dinnertime for what was to be a celebratory feast of Galician seafood. Unfortunately, the storms were brewing. All the emotional crap that remained was under the surface, and it was time to clear the air. Susan and I facilitated a pretty frank discussion. Anger, tears and wine flowed. When it was all over, there were hugs and grateful group. The couple next to us remarked how nice it was to see our process, and how everyone honored each other through the worst, and stayed until things were clear again.
We could have left things unsaid, pretending that everything was okay for a while, but that’s the thing about being a coach: you don’t enjoy suffering and when you can help others stop, you dive in.
Following that…what else but dancing around a fiery cauldron. I kid you not. If you want to know more, you’ll have to come with us next time.
