In France,
there is a song about the pilgrimage of the Basques.
J’irai de Pampelune jusqu'a Bayonne (I’ll
go from Pampalona to Bayonne)
J’irai de Dax jusqua Mont de Marssan
(I’ll go from Dax to Mont de Marssan)
Je ferai le plus grande pelerinage,
(I’ll go on the biggest pilgrimage)
Le plus grande que tout le temp! (The
biggest pilgrimage of all time)**
**pardon me if I spelled any French words wrong or translated incorrectly. It's been a while since I learned that song OR spoke French!
I learned
this song when I was living in Bordeaux. We went to Dax during the running of
the Bulls and celebrated with hundreds of Basques, dressed all in white with a
red kerchief around their necks.
My friend
Raquelita, and her friend M, went to Spain and did a hiking pilgrimage on the same route as the Basques, many miles over several days. They hiked a little bit each day in order
to eventually conquer a great distance. They are both in academia, and when M suggested using this same principal to get some of their writing done, I jumped
on board. Her challenge to herself and to others, was to write 400 words a day,
at least, and to reward herself with a new pair of boots after she got to
10,000 words (I especially like that part!)
I don’t have
any academic papers to write; I don’t have any homework. However, I do have a
couple things that I am using M’s pilgrimage for.
Journaling: When I travel, I usually
keep a journal, or try to. I really enjoy this for several reasons. Looking
back over them is fun, as is remembering what you did and all the little things
that you quickly forget about. Also, it’s a great way to keep your facts
straight. I write down where we stayed and how much it was so if anyone needs a
recommendation for a good hostel, I have it. I keep track of how much I spend,
so later I can remember that, yes, Egypt WAS cheap. BUT, I often fall short on
my journaling. I tend to start off strong and end up…well…nowhere. So, my goal
#1 is to catch up on my journaling, not only for traveling/fun days, but for
regular days. Luckily I have photos to help me remember each day!
How’s it
going so far? I started on the 8th, a week ago, and so far, I have written over 400 words each day. I plan to keep on with
this for at least the month of February, and hopefully longer. My end (optimistic) goal is to get done with
my entire travel journal and start making my life journal an everyday thing
(right now I maybe get it done once a week, usually when I have problems I need
to hash out in my mind).
Goals: Sometimes I let my goals scare
me. If they are big, they seem too big, too far away, unattainable even. I need
to break them down into bite sized pieces instead of letting them get the best
of me. My friend Karen uses the 52 weeks of the year to attain her goals. She
makes 52 goals and tries to accomplish one each week.
Sometimes my
biggest problem is the making of the
goals themselves, not necessarily the accomplishing of the goals. Once I buckle
down and decide what to do, I can get things done. But I don’t want to make a
goal and then fail it, so my fear of failing the goal makes me not make goals,
which is in itself failing anyway. So hopefully this challenge will help me to
MAKE goals and to realize that if I work on them a little bit each
day/week/month, I can get them done eventually!
How's it going so far? Last week, I sat down and made three big goals. Now I need to break them
into manageable bites and then get chomping!
Running: Some days I don’t feel like
running. I have to talk myself into going out and just running a few miles,
since that means I will still be able to run less miles per day to achieve my
weekly goal. I would rather run 4 x 4 mile days than 1 x 16 mile day! I am
usually pretty good at doing this, but I just want to keep it in the back of my
mind for those days that I am feeling less motivated.
Hows it going so far? This week I ran 5 times, rather than 4. It was great to have one day where I could do a shorter, "easy" run, instead of cramming all the miles into less runs!
Do you have a pilgrimage of your own to
conquer? What things do you try to do every day so that they don’t get out of
hand in the long run?