I walked the Camino de Santiago in 2022 with Cristina. It was 500 miles of soul, sweat and Spanish dust. It was a pilgrimage that broke me open and stitched me back together with threads of presence and wonder. Now, back in the hum of daily life, I’ve found a way to keep that Camino spirit alive, step by step, right here in Central Florida. It’s a practice I call the Present Moment Affirmation (PMA), and it’s as simple as it has become sacred to me. Grab your staff, or just your shoes, and let me show you how it works, with a few stories from the trail to light the way.
The Practice: Doing a PMA on a Daily Walk
Here’s the deal. I take my pilgrim’s staff on my 1.5-mile loop with me. It’s not just a stick. It’s a tether to the Camino, a reminder that every walk can be a pilgrimage if I let it. When something catches my eye, a woodpecker drilling into an oak tree, a shadow stretching across the sidewalk, a whiff of rain in the air, I stop. I snap a photograph with my iPhone to mark the moment, not for Instagram, but for me. And if it calls to me, I do the following Present Moment Meditation (PMA):
- Plant the staff. I dig it into the ground and say, "This is where I am, right now."
- Affirm the now. "The past is a memory, the future's a dream, only this moment is real."
- Feel it all. I breathe deep and ask myself, "What do I see, hear, smell, feel?"
- Let go. No yesterday, no tomorrow, just this.
- Say it’s enough. "This is all there is, and it’s enough."
- Face the end. "This may be the last time I [see this, hear this, stand here, feel this way]."
That’s it. No fuss, no fluff. It’s a Stoic slap to the face, waking me up to the holiness of the ordinary. And it gives me that pilgrim's state of mind, every day I walk, no plane ticket required.
Camino Anecdotes: Where It All Began
The PMA didn’t come from nowhere. It was forged on the Camino Frances, in moments that still hum in my chest.
- The Mojon Outside Belorado
Day 13, 246 kilometers into our 800 kilometer trek, and I was a mess. I had blisters, aching hips, and a mojon staring me down, telling me I had 554.6 kilometers to go to Santiago. Doubt whispered I wouldn’t make it. I stopped, jammed my staff into the dirt, and thought if I quit now, “This may very well be the last time I face a marker like this.” The wind picked up, the path crunched, and suddenly that mojon wasn’t a taunt, it was a milestone. I'd flipped the moment from dread to achievement, and I walked on. - The Shrine on El Alto de Mostelares
Cristina was meditating below as I climbed to a small shrine with stones and prayers stacked by pilgrims before me. I added one for a friend’s son, gone too soon, and stood there, feeling the weight of the moment. Later, I’d learn my dad had died that day, half a world away. I didn’t know it then, but I was doing the Present Moment Affirmation and grounding myself in the now, letting the Meseta hold me still. It was raw, real, splendid and deep in it's embrace. - A Café Con Leche near O Pedrouza
Last day on Camino, Cristina and I sat in a roadside bar, sipping a café-con-leche. It was just coffee, but I imagined it might be my last ever on a Camino. The steam warmed my hands, the bitterness woke my tongue, and the chatter of pilgrims filled my ears. I didn’t need anything more, just that cup, that moment. It was enough.
These weren’t just stops on a trail, they were lessons in living. The Camino showed me how to stand and sometimes sit still and just be.
Here's a snapshot of a new cafe' that just opened a quarter mile from our home!
Bringing the Camino Home
Now, I walk my loop with a similar staff, a wooden bridge between Spain and Florida. When a flock of Florida chickens scatters into the road or a palm frond rustles just right, I stop. I photograph it, turning it into a visual breadcrumb on an continual path. If it tugs at me, I do the Present Moment Affirmation. It’s not about Camino nostalgia. Well maybe, a little bit. It’s mostly about now. The Camino is a great memory to frame, but a better practice to live.
My Present Moment Affirmation keeps me on pilgrimage. The sacred isn’t only out yonder in some distant cathedral. The sacred is also in the gravel under our feet, the sweat on our brow, the photos in our smartphones. The sacred is in the choices we make to stop and say, "This is good, This is enough.”
Why It Works
This post-modern life wants us distracted. It wants our phones buzzing, clocks ticking, and minds racing. But the Camino taught me to fight back with a profound and deeper quality of presence. The Present Moment Affirmation is my weapon. It's simple, it's sharp, and it's mine. It’s how I make every walk a part of my pilgrimage, every moment a mojon. Try it yourself, with a staff or no staff, photo or not. Stop. Stand. Affirm. Feel. Let go. You’ll see.
¡Buen Camino!
There are sacred path’s wherever we are, wherever we find ourselves, and they're calling to us.
¡Viva la Meseta!
Lance v22,541
