Beginning: Notes from Porto

Trail Dispatch No. 1 from the Camino de Santiago

- Porto, a starting point for the coastal Camino trail. Photo by Payton Pan

Beginning

is an action that we must take, unlike beginnings, which we can simply watch occur to us. Beginning has its own power, separate from planning, or continuing, or whether there is any end in sight. When I contemplate the power in one's decision to begin something, I am reminded of a quote from one of the Pali sources (Theravada Buddhist): "Strenuousness is the path of immortality... He who does not rouse himself when it is time to rise will never find the way to enlightenment." Perhaps I just like the quote because my current beginning is here in Porto, where the Camino de Santiago stretches out in front of me for many miles, one step at a time. But we all have opportunities to begin that should be taken, many of them in hiding. That meditation practice that's been on hold, the untouched instrument, the blank journal page. Even if the decision is just to start a poem, it's a decision as powerful as any in history--because it is the choice to begin. Like many here, we all have our own reasons to. I have seen some who walk for a lost love, others for their own bodies. Some will never make it to Santiago, others have been there and back once already. Because no one's reason can be any more or less valid than another's, I hope maybe my thoughts or photos from the trail may be cause for someone else's Beginning somewhere, however big or small. I know that the clear song of the world can be twisted and muddied by the daily stresses of modern life, so if you are interested in slowing down to hear a few of my moments, I'll put them here. For now, here's an ode to the tree that made it from New Zealand to Portugal and is as beautiful as ever: 

many of the trees that line this street

     are bicolored

     with eucalyptus green leaves

     being overtaken by bursts of red 

     as if plagued by a beautiful rust

     Upon closer inspection 

     the rust red bursts emerge outwards

     from a singularity

     little cute viruses dancing in the wind

     under the clouds' heavy emptiness 

     a long-haired surfer watches from his van

     in Buddhist indifference.

To Beginning,

Payton

Next: What Broght You Joy Today: Notes from the Coast

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.