Leaving all behind

The Carpe Diem Haiku Kai journey with Paul Coelho’s The Pilgrimage continues, providing a deeper understanding of how leaving all behind and going on a pilgrimage or trip can be a path of growth. Carpe Diem host, Chèvrefeuille, harvested this nugget from Paul Coelho’s book:

‘When you travel, you experience, in a very practical way, the act of rebirth. You confront completely new situations, the day passes more slowly, and on most journeys you don’t even understand the language the people speak. So you are like a child just out of the womb.  You begin to attach much more importance to the things around you because your survival depends upon them.  You begin to be more accessible to others because they may be able to help you in difficult situations. And you accept any small favor from the gods with great delight, as if it were an episode you would remember for the rest of your life.

‘At the same time, since all things are new, you see only the beauty in them, and you feel happy to be alive….

Leaving all behind,

an enactment of rebirth,

each moment is new.

©2017 Ontheland

And what lasting benefit does such an experience offer?  I like Chèvrefeuille’s explanation:

Every day is a new day, what is in the past doesn’t exist anymore in the present, don’t look forward … be there right in the moment. Isn’t that what we try to accomplish with our haiku or tanka? …. Be part of the present, be in the moment, be one with the moment … be the moment.

A surge of delight,

peering out of bus windows

I see my hometown.

∼

Cleared my slate,

polished my vision,

all is new.

©2017 Ontheland