A journey in England

“All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.”

Friedrich Nietzsche

I'd like to share some impressions and experiences of my journey in England lately. Some months ago I decided to book a walking holiday, inspired by pilgrimage and Celtic spirituality. It's something I wanted to do for a long time. And now the time seemed right.

After working hard for my solo exhibition in Oldenburg, I knew I would need a break to recover and recharge. Going on some kind of a pilgrimage is a time for reflection and rest. Although I wasn't quite sure if I would manage to walk all these miles every day for a week long but I took the chance and wanted to challenge myself by doing this.

So I packed a backpack and travelled to England to walk the ‘Way of Water'. A pilgrimage walk from Bath Abbey to Glastonbury Tor. The day we arrived we made a walk to a the top of a hill from where we could see our destination afar which felt really special. During this week I enjoyed walking in the company of an older man and 4 older ladies, who I didn't know before. Spending these 8 days together and walking with each other every day created a unique bond and connected us in such a particular way which was so wonderful.

“A good journey begins with knowing where we are and being willing to go somewhere else."

Richard Rohr

Celtic Christianity is an encouragement to seek God in the green places we walk through- the green place in our heart. A pilgrimage is an intentional journey into exile to reach beyond familiar landscapes and comforts- out of our comfort zone into absolute vulnerability and sharing it with fellow pilgrims.

There's so much beauty and friendship to be found in going on a journey together. Everyone comes with their own intentions. We share the same journey although we experience it all differently and that was very enriching and inspiring.

For me, there's something calming and refreshing about walking. It's the most natural way to move as a human and it's so healing and soothing for both mind, body and soul.

Being outside and going out in nature without a specific purpose, just walking and following the path, was quite an enlightening experience. Taking the time to open my senses to my surroundings was surprisingly rewarding as the landscape revealed its rich wonders. It created a fertile soil for the germination of thoughts and ideas.

I'd like to share this beautiful quote on walking by Mark Buchanan:

“Some of us walk because it's magic and beautiful and mysterious and sometimes dangerous. We walk because we see things differently when we walk. We feel more deeply, think more clearly. We walk to figure things out. We walk to sort ourselves out. We walk to get in shape. We walk to get a sense of the scale of things- the bigness of trees, the smallness of beetles, the real distance between places.

We walk because we experience land and sky and light in fresh ways- in ways, I'm tempted to say, closer to reality. We walk because three miles an hour, as writer Rebecca Solnit says, is about the speed of thought, and maybe the speed of our souls.”

“Pause at the treshold

of the sacred space:

Bow low.

Prepare for fresh encounter

with the Holy one.”

Anne Lewin

We started our walk in Bath with a blessing in the amazing abbey.

Bath was such a beautiful city with its lovely historical buildings which are famous examples of Georgian architecture.

I've hugely enjoyed walking in the beautiful South-English landscape on public footpaths across open fields, dense forests, along rivers and through charming villages. Every day was a new surprise and the road was never boring. Always on the look out for discoveries and treasures. Walking so close to nature made me really immerse in the landscape and environment.

Of all the villages we've crossed, Freshford and Iford Manor with its famous Peto Gardens in Bradford-on-Avon were my favourites. It's a delightful manor house with and Italianate garden which features many architectural Roman fragments and stones. I really liked the combination of history and nature during our walks. It's amazing how much we can learn from the past and how alive it still is.

I have to admit it took me some days to get rid of my restlessness. The need to see, experience and do as much a possible. I really had to learn to be silent inside and still the whirlwind of thoughts and emotions. Being in a group all the time was also quite exhausting and sometimes overwhelming for me, as a high sensitive person. It was hard to be confronted with my limitations.

So I thought it would be wise to skip one day of walking and instead take the time to rest, reflect and read. My favourite place was this bench at the little church of our small village where I could look over the beautiful surroundings and hear the calming water of a stream nearby. And by doing this, I could recharge my inner batteries and was ready for the last days of this pilgrimage.

We've had some beautiful days with sun but I've also experienced the fickle English weather. I noticed the subtle signs of autumn on my walks and was grateful for these warm coloured leaves, ripening berries and hands full of delicious blackberries and cosy roads.

On our last day we finally arrived at our destination! It was a grey and rainy day so we decided to shorten our walk and climbed directly to Glastonbury Tor. Despite the misty and wet weather, the view was impressive. It felt so special to stand on this hill, feeling the rain and cold wind blowing around me, and realising this was almost the end of our pilgrimage.

We continued our walk in the rain to ruins of Glastonbury Abbey where we had a guided tour. It was so interesting to hear about the long and rich history of this place and the myths and legends of King Arthur.

Our pilgrimage walk ended in a small chapel with a blooming garden in Glastonbury. Despite the rain it was a perfect place to stay. Sitting still and sheltered in the chapel, hearing the drops of rain on the roof and seeing these shiny pearls on the flowers was just a wonderful way to reflect on my journey.

“Connection with gardens,

even small ones,

even potted plants,

can become windows to the inner life.

The simple act of stopping

and looking at the beauty around us

can be prayer.”

Patricia R. Barrett