Caminante no hay Camino
Caminante, son tus huellas
el camino y nada más;
Caminante, no hay camino,
se hace camino al andar.
Al andar se hace el camino,
y al volver la vista atrás
se ve la senda que nunca
se ha de volver a pisar.
Caminante no hay camino
sino estelas en la mar.
Antonio Machado
Wayfarer, there is no path
Wayfarer, the only way
Is your footprints and no other.
Wayfarer, there is no way.
Make your way by going farther.
By going farther, make your way
Till looking back at where you’ve wandered,
You look back on that path you may
Not set foot on from now onward.
Wayfarer, there is no way;
Only wake-trails on the waters
[unknown translator]
When a scent permeates the air we are unaware of its edges, yet there remains no doubt about the intensity of the perfume. This is how it is for me to be a wayfarer – there are no edges to being a wayfarer. Opportunities to be a wayfarer appear, they simply emerge – sometimes I have the courage to step into the portal, sometimes not.
Being a wayfarer isn’t quite “ploughing my own furrow” or even taking “the road less travelled.” For me, being a wayfarer means I am willing to step into the unknown, perhaps the vulnerability of an intimate exchange, without promise of reward other than the implicit richness of the connection; being a wayfarer means showing up for a coaching session with a willingness to work emergently, without agenda (other than in the client’s best interests).
I am at my best when I work this way. I don’t come to coaching meetings with a plan for what-we-will-do-this-session, I come with decades of experience and a willingness to be in liminal space (wherein innovation lives). I engage with what the client presents, or rather, what presents itself or comes forward when we (both) get out of the way. This can be scary for those who like familiarity, structure and predictability (so provides an opportunity for someone to deliberately stretch, and if that’s not what someone wants, I’m unlikely to be the right coach for them).
I find the word wayfarer inspiring. What does it mean to you?
[My private practice has a waiting list at the moment, but you’re always welcome to reach out and enquire if anything has changed].