Rachel Goodwyn-Guest Speaker

Zultan came to speak to our class about his experience, both on the Appalachian Trail and the Camino de Santiago de Compostela. He referred to the times he had the feeling of sublime, which is the feeling of awe and the feeling of being so insignificant in the presence of something grandeur. In both occasions at times he felt like just giving up, but there was something that made him press on to finish both of the intensely physically draining trails. Although both trails are pilgrimages, he pointed out that they are both extremely different experiences and that when you have finished there had been a spiritual transformation in yourself. He also spoke about the communitas that forms while you are on the trail. Communitas the sense of sharing and coming from an intense experience that and between people who experience liminality as a group without a social hierarchy. People from all walks of life coming together and sharing everything they have. Another thing he talks about in reference to trails is trail magic, which he experienced through the kindness of people just inviting him into their home for a meal along the trail. His experiences, he says, have truly changed him.