A Note on Sacred Paths

 My first day in Santander, I was orienting myself to the city. I climbed atop an iconic tunnel and settled into a grassy knoll with my writing. I overlooked my anticipated future — I wondered who I would live with; where I would travel; what the school would be like; would I find love? I was a 23 year-old recent college grad with the world before me, figuring out who I was and my place in the universe. I knew that a year later I would go back to this claimed first spot as a changed person. I would overlook a city that had become familiar; these questions accounted for; and journals to tell the tales. I have been mesmerized by the Spirituality of Place since then - how physical spaces become landmarks, guideposts to who we are. They shape us, define us, give us perspective. They hold both the questions and the answers; the wonderings and the knowings. There are places since then that have offered these types of moments. Sacred spaces that offer a beautiful testimony to the journey. Places I have stood single, dating, married, pregnant, with a newborn, pregnant again, with two babes. These paths provide a foundation of gratitude; a well of thankfulness in recalling every part of the journey; every season of life; and a hope for all that is to come.