Rainbows

This morning when I headed out into freezing temperatures at sunrise, I was enchanted by the fog. There was little colour, only a calming pale light - a much different landscape than yesterday's cacophony of colour, but absolutely magical. 

Then I witnessed something I've never seen before:  a white rainbow. The rising sun lit a perfect sparkling white archway above my path.  it was colourless, and mindblowingly beautiful. 

Later, I found myself mesmerized by the simple, repetitive vision of trees kindly planted to shade the pilgrims on the path through the relentless flatness of the maseta. 

I guess there is something awesome to be found in monochromatic and repetitive visions, as well as a colourful, contrasting ones. All I really need is the light to illuminate the vision. 

Perhaps I don't always need to madly search for wild colours in my world to feel alive and energized. Maybe there is wonder and restoration in colourless and calm moments, too. Maybe all I need is the light to see and learn and love. If light is knowledge and awareness, then maybe I can just rest in that. 

I could drive myself crazy always chasing brightly coloured rainbows, and yet completely miss the beauty found in the calmer colours. 

I've always struggled with the fear that I'm making the wrong choices in terms of activities, jobs, friends and lovers. 

Even here on the Camino I question who I should walk with, where I should stay, which path to follow when there's a fork in the trail. 

But if I can learn to just walk in the light, just giving value to the knowledge ive gleaned from all my experiences, wouldn't that be all I need?  

A little later on my walk today I was thrilled to hear a chorus of frogs chirping in a marsh beside me. Just then a cyclist buzzed by and I felt sorry that he didn't get to hear the delightful frogs. But then I thought:  that frog song was just for me!  The cyclist will have other wonderful experiences that I won't, and that's ok. We are each given the experiences we need as we need them. There can be no wrong choice of events.  Our knowledge  is really all we have and all we need. Whether colourful or monochromatic, it's all perfect for each of us. 

I can't ever be at peace until I really learn this. 

I watched a bird fly over my today and considered that birds never fly backward.   It is only natural that life moves forward and all our accumulated knowledge is carried along with us. I can't unlearn what I've experienced. There is nothing to fear: The path I choose is always correct and the company I keep is always perfect. Whether my rainbows are multicoloured or monochromatic, they are beautiful and always exactly what I need. 

Now enough of this silliness, after walking 30 kms, I'm going to have dinner!!!