Communitas on the Camino

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As our destination for the night began to come into view, I felt a strong feeling of accomplishment at the work that was done that day. We had walked quite a ways from our starting point in Sarria and to finally see our destination was relieving.

As the town of Portomarín came into view, I looked back to reminisce on the trek of the day. As I was looking back, I was surprised to see a group of 15-20 pilgrims that had been traveling with our group on and off throughout the day. 

When I turned around and saw all the pilgrims traveling together to reach our temporary destination, I was overcome with the feeling of “communitas.” Communitas is described in our readings as the feeling we get when we are united together as pilgrims, where geographic and social identities are lost in the act of pilgrimage. The differences between us become less important as we share a common goal. 

This is a feeling that I feel will be present throughout our journey. The feeling of unity between pilgrims despite our differences in background, social hiearchy, and nationality is something that is hard to replicate outside of the liminal mindset of a pilgrim.  This was a unique experience unlike anything I’ve experienced before and it has made me become even more excited for what’s to come as we continue our journey.

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