Why I walk
I started life with youthful energy, seeking a sense of purpose, taking the first thing that came to me and devoting myself to it.
I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I had the outward appearance that I was driven, disciplined and strong. I fooled myself for a little while, but one day I couldn’t cover up the truth from my own awareness anymore - I was scared, longing for a life with greater meaning and clueless as to what that was.
After I decided to leave my “successful” life, I then travelled without any particular direction. I was thrown about like a leaf in the wind, not always satisfied with where I was and lacking the strength to take control of my own life. This happened for almost 10 years, until this very moment.
I have found myself living in the South of France, curious about history, spirituality and Christianity. I have never been one who likes going to church, I don’t really enjoy community and prefer to be by myself. Solitude is something that I had learned to like the hard way, although the loneliness still gets to me sometimes.
These days, I find that I am feeling less and less lonely. These days, I am able to see that I was in fact never alone. God was always with me. It’s just that now I feel it, now I think I almost know it.
This is what has drawn me to the pilgrimage and this blog which I have called Echoes & Alleys. I am drawn to empty spaces, forgotten places, stories that whisper. I have always preferred to be in the shade, to the side... watching, observing, learning. This blog is a representation of this unique spirit that lives within me.
Living in the South of France, I am surrounded by history, by relics from a time long ago, often ignored, painted over or left broken by reason of the pressing need of this world to race against each other, to compete and to fight. This blog is a side step from that. It is not intended to add to any institution or prestigious body of literature.
However, it is for the curious. Those who are looking for something more, but can’t travel or have the time to explore this sensation within them. It is not only my observations of travel, but rather my experience.
I take the time to visit sacred sites, small chapels, the streets of quiet towns... searching for the voices that speak through the cracks in the walls, the dusty aging edges of stone, the worn out engravings and carvings that were once the proud achievement of an artist. Stopping and listening, where people are rushing by trying to procure more than they have... this is sacred to me.
I am moving from strategy to surrender. I don’t know where this path will take me, but all I know is that God will be my guide. And I will be listening as earnestly as I can.
- B.R. Faye
May these words be less about me, and more about the path. May they meet whoever needs them, in whatever way they need them.