Contumil, 1 de dezembro de 2021 –

Someone once told me it is important to cry. One has to suffer so one can feel pain and know that one is loved. When one feels like it, it is ok to cry. Crying is a most wonderful thing. The night I met this someone, I cried. It was the first time I really cried. It felt good. I felt alive.

The person who taught me this was walking the Camino for three years and was nowhere near to finishing it. You see: the Camino is a state of mind, not a place. He is inside you and grows with time. He never leaves you. He is you.

Ever since I left the Camino, I want to go back. An infinite force has been insistently calling me. I would like to find this wanderer again, talk to him, ask him if he is well and if he has cried much lately. If he still reveals strangers the beauty of life through metaphors. If he is happy. There was a sadness in his eyes. His family had abandoned him. By his own choice, he had no house, no car, no job. Only the Camino.

I want to go back because of him.

But someone else once told that some things are supposed to be said. This someone is a very dear friend of mine I shared the Camino once with. She taught me a lot during that journey. We laughed and sang a lot; we ran and walked a lot together. Sometimes, we were scared – but then we had each other. Sometimes we were too tired to talk – but at least we had each other.

To be alone is a most underrated thing nowadays – but to have a company is always better.

Sofia Rainho