What Brought You Joy Today: Notes from the Coast

Trail Dispatch No. 2 from the Camino de Santiago

The coastline that walked beside Payton for the first third of the route. "Her melodic waves like siren's song bring about a peaceful sleep each night."

Yesterday on the trail, a small village passed me by comprised of a flock of clay-roofed farm homes centered around a market and church. One of these little farms, as is customary in Portugal, had decorated their entryway with painted tiles called Azulejos. A quote written over top of these tiles, in the shape of a poem, caught my eye.

Casa Santo Amador, No. 75. The hand-painted Azulejos tiles.

I believe this translates into something like:

I asked God to give me joy 

God showed me the land and said 

Work, sow, and create.

I find it inspiring when people can love what they do so much that it becomes a spiritual connecting point for them. I have seen this in the faces of fishermen bringing their morning's catch to the docks and have heard it in the excited shouts of the chefs offering to buy some of that catch. I don't think the farmers, by the quote on their Azulejos mean that everyone should be a farmer. I think they mean that everyone should be able to point to something or someone around them and think that in this search for joy that is being alive, they have been given something for which they are grateful. The thought made me, as I strolled down out of town and back toward the beach, pause a moment to express what I was grateful for. 

My first third of the Camino has been alongside the great Atlantic ocean. Her melodic waves like siren's song bring about a peaceful sleep each night. Her light blue endlessness makes known the privilege just to gaze. Her cold wet salt has healing properties for my muscles and my skin. Her bounty, expertly grilled and seasoned by local hand, has created some of the most lasting, tasteful memories I will bring home with me. Tomorrow, I will head inland along the Minho River that connects Portugal to Spain, aiming for the hills. But today, for the ocean I am grateful. What brought you joy today?

-Payton

Previous: Beginning: Note from Porto

Next: Turning Inward

Editor's outro

Payton is walking the Camino de Santiago for three weeks in exchange for trail dispatches. New entries appear every Tuesday and Friday. If his reflections resonate with you, you may want to explore our nature-informed practice training, where we teach clinicians to bring this kind of slow attention into their therapeutic work.