To Live Is To Work. Tales From The Walk Behind Me, NO.11

The Last Stretch. Arzua, Galicia. Spain.
IN CONTINUATION FROM: SUFFERING, IDEAS OF A GOOD TIME. TALES FROM THE WALK BEHIND ME, NO.10

Where has the time gone…

Well I’m not that surprised, time is the most illusive thing perhaps. Regardless, here we are another year older, another year wiser –maybe.

With respect to this series of blog posts that I have titled “Tales From The Walk Behind Me”, what started off as a goal to edit and publish them within two weeks from March 2020 has evolved to a slow close going into the 4th quarter of 2022 –two years past its origin. And in thinking about it, it sounds like some other all too familiar story that we’ve been hearing about on repeat within that same timeframe.

The last tale (NO.10) was published almost a year ago from today as we’re sitting at the 8 or 9 month point currently. But for anyone out there patiently putting their life on hold for me to drop the next one of these bad boys in the series, I am sorry. I must say, though I’m not sure if anyone is actually reading these, I am all too content to be posting them anyway.

**Insert gratifying sigh here**

But again, time has flown by and the work–my work– has been plentiful.

I have taken a hiatus on everything else, that being creating new notebook designs for my Etsy Shop, dropping new posts on my Instagram channels@ Tikitakamalikilaka / @ Littermature — and of course, keeping up with the enjoyable process of publishing new blog posts for this website. (Littermature.com, In case you didn’t know where you were. It’s okay, it happens.)

Over the past two years, all of my effort has gone into two things:

  1. A children’s book that has been on the backburner since 2017, which I am now on the verge of completing
  2. A journaling crash course to which I can now say is released and out there for the world to take on.

To plug it in

“Make It Stick, Write It Down: A Journaled Philosophy. A crash course journaling philosophy that can help transform your life into an empowered quest for happiness, purpose, and deeper meaning.”

My God, am I sick of saying that!

Well, not really. Sick of typing it is more like it, as I have been tediously updating the links and informational landing pages on this blog since releasing it earlier this month.

And since I’ve intrigued you, here is the promotional video I have made to compliment the course that is available now on Udemy.

CLICK HERE to learn more

Going forward, let me tell you a little back story into it.

Initially, I first wrote Make It Stick, Write It Down: A Journaled Philosophy in 2019 that was released as an ebook/audiobook just before the pandemic kicked itself off.

Soon after moving to England in September 2020, I felt it necessary to outline a more detailed crash course to expand on the original 18 chapters behind the philosophy depicted in the original material. And of course, what started as a small evolution naturally expanded into a bigger one that took nearly 2 years to complete up until this point.

Even still, there are some after the fact finishing touches that I’d like to make, but the work is done, and I am happy and excited to share the material that has been produced.

To tie everything together, the Make It Stick philosophy was a life long creation, however, it came to fruition with explicit clarity soon after completing my last Camino pilgrimage in 2019, which is where these Tales From The Walk journal entries stem from.

Full Circle

To come full circle then, this blog post here right now epitomizes the necessary labouring that I’ve endured to produce the content over these last two years. Here we are then, talking about it with a philosophical thought that preceded it, but has now succeeded it entirely in its reflection.

Does that last statement even make sense?

I don’t know, but I’m sure there is a proper word or phrase to describe exactly what has happened within the reference, but my thesaurus skills are at bay right now as I prepare to seek refuge for the night.

So Goodnight.

And Good morning.

I am now back up to write again in the wee hours of the morning to finish off these next few sentences before setting off to work.

You see, this is my life now:

Wake up, make my coffee, get onto my personal work– crash course, children’s book, blog, or whatever the next step is. Then I go to my day job. Afterwards, I go for a run or have a workout–or both. Then it’s time for dinner followed up with some more computer work if my timing permits it. Finally, I go to sleep only to wake up at 6am again to another coffee, and more computer work before heading off to my day job again to continue the cycle.

This alone doesn’t fully capture the tediousness of most days, especially without pointing out all of the general chores that life has to offer us daily, which we are all obligated to.

Regardless, if it sounds tiring, it is. I’m tired all the time.

But this isn’t a complaint.

Because in saying that some days most days are totally exhausting, my mind and emotional spirit feels extremely resilient.

Mostly, I feel content and very happy, and the exhaustion is a natural byproduct of a solid effort to pursue my personal goals and ambitions wholeheartedly.

Rest is illusory, as we seek and crave it all too often. And as mentioned in Make It Stick Write It Down, with rest we grow restless as we seek to eventually exhaust ourselves further….

We have an impression that we work to build up a security so that we may one day rest,
where we can one day stop “working” – The age old fantasy in retirement.

But that day will never come, because we are here to toil in work, to put effort into, to overcome, and exhaust the time in our day— To slumber, to wake, to repeat our work yet another day.

When our journey is done, and we’re ready for rest, we grow restless because we have no “work” left.

In which case, we burn to embark towards new journeys to work on, and quest until our time is up— Until we come to meet our true rest that comes with our deaths

– G. Kourtesiotis, Make It Stick, Write It Down: A Journaled Philosophy. (2019)

Currently at the ripe old age of 33, i am still very young.

Clearwater Lake, 2019. British Columbia, Canada.

But in looking back on my even younger years, this is all I could’ve asked for–to feel totally satisfied with my life path and journey.

The link between meaningful work and personal satisfaction–“happiness” if you will– is one that can’t be understated. And truthfully, this is what sits at both the core of the Make It Stick journaling philosophy, and the main point to emphasize within the context of this blog post.

Right, I wont delay things any longer to let you get on with reading further, and on with your time –If you wish.

Let’s move on!

The following is Number 11 of 14 in the series of blog posts called “Tales From The Walk Behind Me”.

If you’re new to these, it is a series of originally journaled entries through a few of my days —events, experiences, thoughts— along the Camino De Santiago.

If you missed part one, here it is — Click Me!

This was my second Camino that took place over 26 days through September to October, 2019 that covered 1010+km along the Camino Norte route, including Muxia-Finisterre.

This is my standard cut and paste disclaimer from the tale before, I will give you the bit of warning because it might not be what you expect– my thoughts can be ugly because I’m a weirdo.

Furthermore, the content will vary, and the timelines will be all over the place because my mind loves a wild goose chase.

You also may question my own benevolence as a human being.

Life is all about work, Here is no. 11…

Continue reading “To Live Is To Work. Tales From The Walk Behind Me, NO.11”

THE MAN WHO SPRINTED THE MARATHON – TALES FROM THE WALK BEHIND ME, NO.5

Basque Country – Gipuzkoa, Spain.
IN CONTINUATION FROM: TALES FROM THE WALK BEHIND ME, NO.4 – THE LEAN, MEAN, AND HIGHLY EMOTIONAL MACHINE.

Good evening/morning/night whatever — I’m not always sure how to start these things.

It’s funny how we are “trained” to formally present our thoughts in structured essay format. Sure, I guess it helps to be literate, but when is enough enough in order to effectively deal with the grey and unnorganized chaos in the world that is wholefuly represented with the poignance of a grammatically incorrect sentence?

Perhaps a little too extreme of a point to start off with alongside the irrelevancy of this point with the context of the post ahead…

Let’s move on!

The following is Number 5 of 14 in the series of blog posts called “Tales From The Walk Behind Me”.

If you missed part one, here it is — Click Me!

If you’re new to these, it is a series of originally journaled entries through a few of my days —events, experiences, thoughts— along the Camino De Santiago.

This was my second Camino that took place over 26 days through September to October, 2019 that covered 1010+km along the Camino Norte route, including Muxia-Finisterre.

This is my standard cut and paste disclaimer from the tale before, I will give you the bit of warning because it might not be what you expect– my thoughts can be ugly because I’m a weirdo.

Furthermore, the content will vary, and the timelines will be all over the place because my mind loves a wild goose chase.

You also may question my own benevolence as a human being.

There is a strong warrior in all of us! Here is no. 5…

Continue reading “THE MAN WHO SPRINTED THE MARATHON – TALES FROM THE WALK BEHIND ME, NO.5”

TALES FROM THE WALK BEHIND ME, NO.4 – THE LEAN, MEAN, AND HIGHLY EMOTIONAL MACHINE.

Coastal Cape Along The Camino Norte – Punta Escalar, Asturias, Spain.
IN CONTINUATION FROM: TALES FROM THE WALK BEHIND ME, NO.3 – I’M RICH BECAUSE WALKING IS MY PURPOSE

This is a little bit more manageable, it feels good to complete each journal to hit publish.

I do hope that these are interesting reads for whoever sets eyes on them. For myself, I am vividly placed into the moments of my memories to re-live the experience for another day.

How beautiful thought is, more-so, how beautiful is writing to be able to trigger imagination and emotion within the brain.

Miraculous, life is marvelous!

Let’s move on!

The following is Number 4 of 14 in the series of blog posts called “Tales From The Walk Behind Me”.

If you missed part one, here it is — Click Me!

If you’re new to these, it is a series of originally journaled entries through a few of my days —events, experiences, thoughts— along the Camino De Santiago.

This was my second Camino that took place over 26 days through September to October, 2019 that covered 1010+km along the Camino Norte route, including Muxia-Finisterre.

This is my standard cut and paste disclaimer from the tale before, I will give you the bit of warning because it might not be what you expect– my thoughts can be ugly because I’m a weirdo.

Furthermore, the content will vary, and the timelines will be all over the place because my mind loves a wild goose chase.

You also may question my own benevolence as a human being.

This one is spicy! Here is no. 4…

Continue reading “TALES FROM THE WALK BEHIND ME, NO.4 – THE LEAN, MEAN, AND HIGHLY EMOTIONAL MACHINE.”

TALES FROM THE WALK BEHIND ME, NO.3 – I’m Rich Because Walking Is My Purpose

End of Day Wear & Tear – Albergue Solar De Hidalgos. Santillana Del Mar, Cantabria. Spain.
IN CONTINUATION FROM: TALES FROM THE WALK BEHIND ME, NO.2 – MARVELLING EPICS, CLIFFSIDE CORNFIELDS TO THE END OF THE WORLD.

Okay, so I officially abandoned the idea of posting one of these tales daily.

I will definitely continue to be posting these as frequently as possible within the coming weeks until all 14 are out. The words are transcribed into my blog, but editing, formatting, and hunting through my phone for images/videos that coincide with each journal entry is taking me a little longer to finalize than I originally thought.

If you have been expecting one on the day with my intended words, I apologize because I have failed you my good people!

Whaaaat, you already forgave me? — Super!

Let’s move on!

The following is Number 3 of 14 in the series of blog posts called “Tales From The Walk Behind Me”.

If you missed part one, here it is — Click Me!

If you’re new to these, it is a series of originally journaled entries through a few of my days —events, experiences, thoughts— along the Camino De Santiago.

This was my second Camino that took place over 26 days through September to October, 2019 that covered 1010+km along the Camino Norte route, including Muxia-Finisterre.

This is my standard cut and paste disclaimer from the tale before, I will give you the bit of warning because it might not be what you expect– my thoughts can be ugly because I’m a weirdo.

Furthermore, the content will vary, and the timelines will be all over the place because my mind loves a wild goose chase.

You also may question my own benevolence as a human being.

Here we are again, Take No. 3, lets go!

Continue reading “TALES FROM THE WALK BEHIND ME, NO.3 – I’m Rich Because Walking Is My Purpose”