#one day i will reread bey again and feel it all

[kindwhispers]

Ballroom e Youkoso: Dreams, Passion, & Self-discovery through the art of dancing

Spoilers ahead!

This will always be one of my top favourites of mine. One of the many things I loved about this manga– aside from my obvious adoration in its magnificent art (especially its motion art) is how it explores the intricacies of finding your own dreams for yourself. Tatara is on a constant pursuit of understanding himself as he digs into ballroom on a deeper lens; the becoming of a pair with Chinatsu being the fire that ignited Tatara’s self-discovery, how his realizations in staying in the ballroom world & encountering more people- especially Bres arc- is foisting him to ruminate on his dreams, purpose, motivation, and the courage to keep up despite it being a place that is still so enigmatic & distant from his own grasp.

There are lots of chapters that have been introspective & I really love ALL of the characters (they’re all so beautiful) i can’t wait to see how Tatara’s experiences in ballroom will mould his growth as a dancer & as himself. I still don’t understand why they cut a certain scene from the manga in the anime considering Tatara’s feelings & admiration for Shizuku is imperative for his quest in entering ballroom dancing. esp. how he views his own motivation as asinine (and acknowledges it as part of his self discovery).

One of my favourite chapters includes the one with Chinatsu- Tatara on his quest for the essence of dancing, confronting his qualms about himself leading up to a harmonious moment with Chinatsu and becoming one with her. Their growth as a dynamic has been wonderful, I love them so much (and before everything has been said and done, I am a platonic!chitara admirer). I also love the way Tatara has been recognizing ballroom as a bridge that connects him to the people he admires until he met these people who provoke his convictions to himself… now that he’s gained awareness, he HAS to fundamentally think about his own dreams for himself.

After Bres, I really love how discernible Tatara’s growth is as seen through different lenses (Chinatsu, Kiyoharu, Marisa). His ruminations abt his motivations in ballroom and seeking what’s beyond it allowed him to flourish & I can’t wait to see how it’ll pan out for him. Also side note, I just wanna reiterate how much I appreciate Tatara & Kurauchi’s relationship. They met not too long ago but the influence they’ve had on each other through their conversations alone have been so meaningful, and how much of their multifaceted layers of themselves are being constantly uncovered.

I want to see him face his love for Shizuku & realize it’s fine that his feelings for her, wherever it might come from, is his reason why he dances! That after all, ballroom is the pathway that makes way for him to reach the people he admires. So happy that he always has convos with Kurauchi that hinders him from running away from his feelings & finally confront it.

& Tatara on his feelings for Shizuku: I think, whether it comes from a place of profound admiration or romantic love, it’s a lot deeper (doesn't mean it's romantic, it also doesn't necessarily have to be, but it's definitely an immense feeling that is significant to him). I’d love to see how Tatara will address these feelings & if this will bloom into a new approach w dancing.

Tatara has been building his self-confidence through dancing, & to me he is constantly learning to love ballroom through the people he started it for & the people he dance with. Which is so interesting!!! I’d love to see more of his growth as a leader too, and Tatara who has his own sense of pride as a dancer.

[fictropes]

Top 5 fics you've read

AHHHHHH. god. ok i’m going to just do the top 5 my brain immediately screamed at me, even tho i’ve READ so many good ones and i wish i could list them all. these are top 5 long chaptered  ones btw, my top 5 one shots are different hngbfdgb.

1. chickens funky little ice cream shop that i love and wanna live in i just love ice cream so much. also love chickens words u ever just read something that makes so much sense in regards to how your brain... wants to read things? does that make any sense. like OH this is how i want words to be

2. our house by sierra. even tho i love to tell sierra horrible things every day we are actually friends, and this is literally forever in my heart. teh day they told me they’d written something like this i was like.... i’m going to yell. then when they uploaded it i was like i need to annoy this person on discord every day for the rest of my life (out of love)

3. art thief fic art thief fic art thief fic

4. monochrome by puddle! like this is surely in everyone’s top 5. i read it allllll again in january when i needed to stay up to try and fix my sleep schedule and i think there’s just a run by run of me having a breakdown in a discord chat cos it’s just SO GOOD. never experienced so many emotions, what a ride, what a tiem to discover i have feelings and that

5. where we belong ! it’s just suuuuuch a good read. and i remember going back to it and properly looking at the word count and beiing like AHH?????? when i saw it was under 30k. cos it feels so much longer (in a very good way) it’s just one of those ones u can always go back to, ya know? like such a feel good fic and gay pamphlets makes me die every time... god. i am actually going to go reread it

[cottoncandy-jester]

✨Lie down darling, it's Time for a dream..✨

Love kills(karasuno team x male reader)

Reader is a male

Sorry it's crappy-

This was supposed to bey very first story like I finished it and all but after rereading it I deemed it trash and let it sit here

Figured I should post it even if it's awful

Not sure if there will be a part two maybe if a lot of peeps like it I'll do it

This story contains: very light yandere behavior like a sprinkle, sick reader, poly relationship

You always loved volleyball, your family used to play with you when you were younger. so when your family moved and you had to go to karasuno high your first objective was to join the volleyball team. That's how you got into the predicament you're in now, a member of the team as the second libero. You actually enjoyed your time there but each day was hell for one reason, you were sick

It was as if your body was just too weak to do anything intense especially volleyball, everytime your heart raced awful things would happen. You kept this a secret for a while now even begging coach ukai to let you stay on the team which he for some reason allowed, the others thankfully didn't know thanks to you being secretive though they did notice how you would leave practice early and how you got tired quick.

They had to find out one day and today was that day. You sat on the bus next to a sleeping tanaka who used your shoulder as a pillow. Him and noshinoya bickered over who sat next to you and it seems nishinoya lost that battle so tanaka now used you as a pillow while the libero watched with fuming anger.

You were unaware of the feelings the team felt for you but there was apparently a system when it came to you, a turn based system with rules but of course you didn't know any of this. You glanced at tanaka before a small chuckle escaped your lips, this cause every awake team member to stop what they were doing and turn to look at you. Some had looks of jealously while others shared looks of pure love in their eyes.

you were their good luck charm, their shining star. It started with coach Ukai realizing just how clumsy some of the boys got around you when you spoke to someone else not only that but more fights seemed to spiral around you or about you. After some simple thinking he came up with the answer to his question, so after a long and stress relieving smoke break he forced the team to figure out a solution or no one was playing so of course they quickly figured out what to do, daichi set up a system and suggested to sharing which everyone agreed with fear of losing you and volleyball.

"oi [Y/n], you have fun staring at me ya creep?"

You snapped out of your daydream only to see Tanaka awake and grinning at you, you noticed how close your faces were so you quickly pulled back with a flustered expression.

"h..huh?! I wasn't staring!" You snapped back only to hear the male's loud laughing before a string of teasing came. When tanaka teased it always made you flustered, the male wrapped an arm around your neck before yanking you close and making a goofy kissy face to you.

"whaaat you were totally staring! What did ya wanna kiss me?! Pfft come onnn you can kiss me! Kissy kissy!" His cooing and leaning in made you internally scream as your heart started to beat faster which in turn made it hurt so you gritted your teeth in pain.

Thankfully sugawara came to your rescue by pulling you out your seat and close to his side. He gave tanaka a light glare before turning to you and smiling, It was only now that you realized the bus had stopped and the door opened.

"dont bully him tanaka, you know [Y/n] gets all red! He's already a blushing mess cause of you" sugawara said in a scolding tone but it only made you to cover your face with your hands as you groaned, they were both demons, handsome demons.

After daichi demanded the [y/n] bullying stops you all get off the bus only to walk towards the nekoma court. You were actually nervous since this was your first time practicing with another team. You walked into the gym and jumped when some weird looking black haired male walked towards you. Out of habit you looked for somewhere to hide so you used asahi as a meat shield, the poor guy turned into a mess when he felt your hands gripping the back of his shirt while hiding behind him

"w-w-w-what are ya doing!?" The tall male yelped out in which you pointed towards the odd rooster looking male like a small child. Asahi gulped as he tried to not freak out at the feeling of being so close to you, you choose him to hide behind! This made him more confident and he even puffed his chest out a little with pride.

"oh that's kuroo, he's Nekoma captain and very harmless I promise" asahi's warm tone made you nervously smile before you walked out from behind him now standing by his side. This led to glares to asahi from other members especially tsukishima since it seems like you avoid the male like he was some weird monster.

"whose this? Didnt know you guys babysit, you lost there baby bird?" kuroo's sly cooing made anger and embarrassment bubble in you but before you can respond hinata took that chance to. He quickly stole you from asahi before putting his hands around your waist and showing you off like some shiny toy

"this is [Y/N]! He's the best! He can save like any ball! Like no ball touches the ground when he's around! We are gonna kick your butts thanks to him!" Hinata's shimmering praise made you blush as you kept your head down but you felt a hand petting your head so you looked up only to see kageyama at your other side.

"yeah..what the shrimp said. We are gonna win thanks to our mascot, right bunny?" you couldn't help but glare at kageyama who simply shot you a grin. You were given the nickname cause you seem to be shy and quick to scamper off like one, plus it was agreed upon by the others.

After everyone came in and greeted each other the match was starting to get ready. You were already so nervous but you let out a shaky breath as you stood near the back while trying not to freak out. You knew something felt wrong but coach Ukai said that this match was important to test your progress so you definitely weren't gonna miss it, you were way too stubborn to give up a match until it was over so there was no way you were missing this just cause of small chest pain.

"KICK SOME ASS [Y/N]!"

You looked to the sidelines only to see a pumped up nishinoya. He always loved seeing you play and didn't mind if he had to sit out so you can have your spotlight cause in his eyes you deserve it.

You have back a nervous thumbs up before hearing the match start. Your eyes were focused on the match as you got serious and far less nervous. You watched as hinata did one of his spikes only for it to bounce back. You gasped before running to save the ball, you slid onto the floor and bounced the ball back up before a sharp pain hit you. You held back a growl of pain before getting up and smiling as the ball bounced around from person to person

Your chest felt heavy though and you could feel your hearing going fuzzy. You looked around and shook your head, focus!

You saw an opening and gave a grin as you watched hinata slam the ball through. You laughed as you watched him get excited "nice one hinata!" You cheer out before hearing tsukishima mumbled out a snarky remark.

"only complimenting him? Kinda selfish eh?" This confused you but you figured he just wanted attention so you went and patted tsukishima on the back before giving a grin to him

"hey don't be grump we got that point together!" Your grin only made the male turn his head away and give a light scowl before shoving you back a little.

"I don't need your dumb pity words" you expected this from him but it still hurt both emotionally and physically since he just had to push you from the center of your chest. You felt something hit the back of your throat and you covered your mouth with your hand, you felt a hand on your shoulder and looked at daichi who gave you a worried look

"you need to use the bathroom? We can call a timeout"

his worried tone made you rapidly shake your head before simply rubbing your hands against your shorts

"no, let's keep going I'm just a little dizzy from all the running"

it wasn't like you weren't telling the truth it's just you didn't spill the whole truth.

You knew he wanted to press you more about it but probably after the game. As the game kept going you were running trying to indeed save every ball you could just like hinata bragged, you could say this was your speciality but everyone has their limits.

The match was in its last set and you all needed just one point to win so while everyone was tired they weren't breathing as heavily as you.

You let out a shaky breath as your eyes focused on the ball but everything was going fuzzy, your eyes were dull and glazed over not to mention your body felt like it was just gonna drop.

The ball was coming! You had to save it! They were counting on you! They needed you! In that moment you didn't care about your weak body or hurting yourself all that mattered was the team and the ball. You sucked in a sharp breath before running and saving the ball only to once again feel an overwhelming pain, but you did it.

You wheezed as you sat there on your hands and knees with your head down facing the ground. As you forced yourself up you were shaking so badly, the others were so focused that they didn't quite see the state you were in.

You covered your mouth to cough only to feel something come up, your winced before looking at your hand and the crimson red stained your palm as well as drip down your chin. That's it, you were done you couldn't push yourself any further.

You kept coughing harshly which gained the attention of every person in the room. As you dropped to one knee you could hear voices calling your name, but it felt all fuzzy now as you slowly fainted and the world faded to black.

[thestuckylibrary]

Group Ask 158

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Please send us an ask stating which group ask and which person you are replying to. Thank you so much in advance!

Anon 1 said:

i thought i found this one shot in your married tag but i couldnt find it again when i looked :( basically steve and bucky get married when theyre kids and everything still happens and steve tells everyone hes married and bucky gets sad that steve got married and that hedidnt even tell him and he remembers marrying steve when they were little and then steve tells bucky its him that hes married to thank you if you can find it!!!

Anon sent in  Best friends and married since childhood by StuckySituation (oneshot | 1,141 | G)

lindsey-of-north sent in  Let this be light work by caughtinanocean (oneshot | 8,628 | T)

Anon 2 said:

Hi, I am having trouble finding a fic where Bucky comes home from a bad mission (people died), rims Steve and fucks him against the sink. I’ve been looking for it for a while, it’s relatively short and afterwards Steve reassures him that he can’t save everyone. Thanks

do-and-hope said:

Hi, I'm looking for a fic where Bucky leaves the Tower to go get coffee, gets hit on by a guy at the shop, and ends up asking the Avengers (sand Steve) if sexually hitting on people is how one gets dates now and do they have advice on dating. I remember his more subtle attempts at using the Avengers' advice don't work (Steve doesn't like coffee) and some of them just straight up tell Bucky to make sexual overtures like random coffeeshop dude.

Anon sent in Learn How To Bend by nerdwegian (oneshot | 6,405 | E)

Anon 3 said:

Hi do you guys know the name of the fic where Steve and Bucky are neighbors and don’t like each other at first? I remember Natasha was the landlord and Steve smoked medical marijuana. Thanks!

hellaqueerangelofthelord said:

Hi! There was a fic I read a while ago that seemingly has vanished from the interwebs :( The basic premise was a stucky x reader fic where the reader faked her death and the boys found her again. A few specific details I remember: the chapter names were all colors (I think one was peach and another was lime green), and the reader had been pregnant and then lost the baby prior to the beginning of the story, she was also a scientist with a background secret from the boys

lesbianhozier said:

hey! i’m looking for a crack-y fic set during catws where bucky keeps trying to lean in and kiss steve mid-fight. bucky doesn’t really know what’s going on, steve doesn’t know that he’s the winter soldier is bucky yet, and natasha can’t figure out what kind of fighting technique bucky is trying to pull off when he does it. thank you so much!!

Anon 4 said:

hey could you help me find the fic where its modern bucky and cap steve and bucky is at the bar with the howlies and steve is with the avengers and the howlies dare bucky (who is drunk) to go ask steve for a piggy back ride. steve has a moment of discomfort that someone comes up to him but likes that bucky respects his space even though he's drunk. i think he ends up piggy backing bucky home jsdkjhdk it was really cute 

princessniitza sent in  Save a Horse, Ride a Captain by galwednesday (oneshot |  2,708 | T)

Anon 5 said:

hi! i'm so desperate to find this fic and i'm not sure if i've sent this ask in before but if i have i apologise! it's one where bucky worked for pierce (some sort of legal profession). pierce owned an apartment building which nat + steve lived in and they used one of the rooms as a ballet studio. bucky was told that he had to to shut it down. bucky obviously falls in love with steve and they get into a fight bc bucky's unhappy w his job but won't quit (for becca). it had a happy ending!!

Anon 6 said:

I was hoping you might be able to help me find a Shrunkyclunks fic where Bucky is a musician who is performing in a bar when Steve walks in. I'm pretty sure Bucky is singing Jackie & Wilson by Hozier and he only has one arm, which Steve only notices after a while because he's so captivated by Bucky's performance. Does anyone happen to know which fic this is? Thank you!

ekeshet sent in His Arms Held All the Songs I Needed by The_She_Devil (oneshot | 40,181 | E)

ummvengers said:

hey I was wondering if you could help me find a fic. It's a highschool au and steve and bucky hate each other and i think tony makes a time travel machine and steve and bucky get sent to the future? They find out that in the future bucky loses his arm and steve gets big (in hs he was small) and they're married in the future and they have to figure out how to get back to the present.

lindsey-of-north sent in It’s All Tony’s Fault by Anxiety_Baker02 (complete | 38,245 | T)

atgirlstwobirds said:

Hi there! I was wondering if anyone knew of a preWW2 get together fic where Bucky asks relationship/sex advice from a gay guy he knows at the docks, maybe called Jack? It might’ve been called something like the sexuality crisis of 1930 but I might be getting two separate fics confused. Any help would be great!!

princessniitza sent in Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen by Laura JV (jacquez) (oneshot | 7,533 | E) - bucky/ofc

Anon 7 said:

I'm looking for two fics about Steve and Bucky but can't remember the titles! One is an modern AU where Steve is a comic book writer and Bucky is a vet with PTSD that moves downstairs. The second an AU set in the last where Steve draws naughty cartoons for money and he meets Bucky who lost his arm in the war. They move in together as roommates and slowly fall for one another.

therandomravenclw sent in To Be Vulnerable Is Needed Most Of All by perfect_plan (complete | 118,363 | M)

miraishu sent in  Through The Open Window by 74days (complete | 28,661 | E)

mischiefs-hawk said:

Hi, looking for a fic for a friend. It's modern-setting, with Peter as Steve's son. Bruce is the science teacher at Peter's school. Hope you can help!

Anon 8 said:

Um, hi? I really appreciate what you guys do, and want to say thanks for that. Ummm, I've been looking for this fic, and can't find it anywhere! It's about how the serum has... Unexpected side effects and it makes Steve really horny??? He tries to hide it, and when Bucky finds out, he's 'angry'. Uhhh, it's really good and I want to reread it. THANKS! (If you don't find it, don't worry about it, have a good day!) ((sorry if I was to vague))

dolphinqueen10 sent in Six or Seven by 13Queen (oneshot | 4,175 | E)

therandomravenclw sent in you know I'd quench that thirst by napricot (complete | 38,027 | E) - bucky/steve/peggy, steve/others

Anon 9 said:

Hi! I'm looking for a fic and it's canon-divergent TFA. Bucky falls and loses his arm but he gets found by Steve. Peggy is disappointed by how dedicated Steve is to Bucky and they kinda fall out? Bucky and Steve move back to Brooklyn. Bucky has to adjust to having one arm and both to civilian life. They get a flat together and realise they aren't happy there so they then move to California. Steve becomes an artist and they end up admitting their feelings to each other. Thank you!!!!!

Anon sent in  Malibu by glitteratiglue (oneshot | 13,065 | M)

[juttabluehberger]

Der Caminho gibt dir was du brauchst

In den den letzten Wochen habe ich immer wieder versucht, meine erste Pilgerreise am Caminho Português auszuwerten. Aber es ist sehr schwer, diese ganz besondere Erfahrung während vier Wochen auf ein paar wenige Aussagen zu reduzieren.

Wie ein roter Faden zogen sich die Themen Loslassen, Minimalismus und Entschleunigung durch die Pilgerreise.

Loslassen - Dieses Thema steht an oberster Stelle. Als ich in der Weihnachtszeit noch einmal alle Einträge gelesen habe, fiel mir auf wie oft das Thema vorkommt. Natürlich auch unter anderem beim “Pilgern im Regen” (siehe einer der letzten Einträge).

Pilgern war für mich eine Herausforderung auf mehreren Ebenen loszulassen:

Meine Planung, wenn der Bus Verspätung hat und ich alle Anschlüsse verpasse und wenn ich nicht weiß, wie weit ich es schaffen werde und wo mein nächstes Bett steht.

Persönlicher Komfort, wie Rückzugsmöglichkeiten, genügend Ruhe, bequeme Betten mit Bettwäsche, eigenes Bad. 

Ausrüstung für alle möglichen Bedürfnisse, weil man nicht so viel tragen kann.

Kontrolle über Umstände, z.B. wenn jemand im Schlafsaal schnarcht, die Herberge keine Kochgelegenheit und/oder Heizung hat, die Kleidung über Nacht nicht trocken wird, der Check-In erst am späten Nachmittag möglich ist, der Check-Out schon vor Sonnenaufgang sein soll, …

Weitergehen nicht vom Wetter anhängig machen.

Persönliche Begegnungen mit anderen Pilgern genießen, aber nicht wissen, ob ich sie wieder sehen werde.

Leistungsdenken, wie die Anzahl der Kilometer und Geschwindigkeit, aber auch die Ergebnis-Orientierung, etwas zum Herzeigen zu haben, z.B. in Form von Fotos. 

Erinnerungsfähigkeit, wenn die Erlebnisse der letzten Tage in einander verschwimmen und ich bald nicht mehr weiß, wo und wann was passiert ist.

Minimalismus - Trotz allen Einschränkungen ist es befreiend mit so wenig - nämlich nur dem, was du tragen kannst - auszukommen. Aber auch im Blick auf Aufgaben/Tätigkeiten/Ziele - beim Pilgern hat man nur eine: einfach gehen!  

Entschleunigung - Es ist eine besondere Erfahrung wirklich nur zu Fuß unterwegs zu sein. Als ich kurz vor Santiago war, spürte ich einen Widerwillen schon bald mit einem Bus zu fahren. Das schien mir zu schnell. Natürlich ist es ein seltsames Gefühl, wenn man dann in 3 Stunden die Strecke zurück fährt, die man vorher in 3 Wochen gegangen ist.

Ein oft zitierter Satz unter Pilgern ist Der Caminho (Weg) gibt dir nicht das, was du willst, sondern das, was du brauchst.

Ich habe schon sehr bald auf meiner Pilgerreise eine Liste begonnen, die mit “Geschenke des Himmels” überschrieben ist. Denn was immer mir “der Caminho” oder “das Universum” gibt, weiß ich, dass das von meinem himmlischen Vater kommt.

Die Liste von “Geschenke des Himmels” ist lang, aber hier ist eine Auswahl:

Toller Sonnenuntergang am ersten Tag und Bilder von der kräftigen Brandung.

Gottes Zusage, dass er mir immer das nächste Bett zeigen wird. Während ich ein Restaurant begutachte, entdecke ich eine Herberge im gleichen Haus und kann einchecken. Kurz danach beginnt es zu schütten. 

Der späte Check-In einer Herberge führt dazu, dass ich in eine andere gehe und dort eine tolle Unterhaltung mit einer anderen Pilgerin habe.

Fürsorge und Beratung einer Apothekerin für meine Blasen.

Gottes Führung in die Jugendherberge, wo ich eine amerikanische Krankenschwester spezialisiert auf Fußprobleme treffe, die mir hilft mein Blasenproblem zu analysieren und so zu einer Lösung beiträgt. 

Neue Schuhe, die mir ein blasenfreies Weitergehen ermöglichen.

Ein namenloser portugiesischer Engel, der mir mit Händen und Füßen eine Umgehung des überfluteten Weges zeigt und ich nicht wie alle anderen durch knietiefes Wasser gehen muss.

Freude an der Natur und Begegnungen mit verschiedenen Tieren.

Herbergseltern, die mir über die Runden helfen, als ich länger keinen Bankomaten finde und bei denen ich bargeldlos übernachten und essen kann. 

Eine deutsche Pilgerin, die mir eine Wasserflasche schenkt, als mein Vorrat zu Ende ist. 

Gemeinsames Pilgern mit einer Französin und einigen anderen als wir uns verlaufen. 

Private Herbergen, die kleinere Schlafsäle haben und Betten mit Vorhängen und Steckdose. 

Unterhaltung mit Gott und sein Reden im Regen, das schließlich zu einer Antwort im Blick auf meine Malerei führt. 

Keine Knieprobleme und keine verstauchten Füße.

Möglichkeit gerade dann in Santiago zu sein, als das Treffen meiner FB-Gruppe stattfindet.

… und viele andere kleine und große Führungen Gottes.

Es gäbe soviel mehr zu erzählen, aber ich hoffe, das vermittelt euch einen kleinen Eindruck, was für eine besondere Zeit diese Pilgerreise war.

Insgesamt muss ich aber sagen, dass sie zu kurz war, weil ich erst nach zwei Wochen so richtig in den Pilgermodus kam und nur wenige Tage später bereits in Santiago ankam. Und somit stand schon bald fest, ich will bald wieder pilgern, aber diesmal länger. Die Nächste Pilgerreise ist bereits in Planung ….

***

The Caminho gives you what you need

During the last few weeks I have tried again and again to evaluate my first pilgrimage on the Caminho Português. But it is very difficult to reduce this very special experience during four weeks to a few statements.

The themes of letting go, minimalism and deceleration ran like a golden thread through the pilgrimage.

Letting go - this theme stood at the top of the agenda. When I reread all the entries during the Christmas season, I noticed how often this topic occurs. Of course, especially during the "pilgrimage in the rain" (see one of the last entries).

Pilgrimage was a challenge for me to let go on several levels:

My planning, when the bus is late and I miss all connections or when I do not know how far I will make it and where my next bed will be.

Personal comfort, such as privacy, sufficient rest, comfortable beds with bed linen, a private bathroom. 

Gear for all kinds of needs, because you can't carry that much.

Control over circumstances, e.g. when someone snores in the dormitory, the hostel has no cooking facilities and/or heating, the clothes do not dry overnight, check-in is only possible in the late afternoon, check-out should be before sunrise, …

Continuing the pilgrimage, not depending on the weather.

Enjoying personal encounters with other pilgrims, but not knowing if I will see them again.

Performance thinking, like the number of kilometres and speed, but also the result orientation, to have something to show, e.g. in form of photos. 

Ability to remember, when the experiences of the last few days blur into each other and I soon don't know where and when what happened.

Minimalism - Despite all the limitations, it is liberating to get by with so little - namely only what you can carry. But also with regard to tasks/activities/goals - on a pilgrimage you have only one aim: just walk!  

Deceleration - It is a special experience to only move forward on foot. When I was approaching Santiago, I felt a reluctance to take a bus. It seemed too fast. Of course, it's a strange feeling when you then drive back in 3 hours the distance you walked before in 3 weeks.

An often quoted sentence among pilgrims is:

The Caminho (Way) gives you not what you want, but what you need.

Very soon on my pilgrimage I started a list called "Gifts from Heaven". Because whatever "the Caminho" or "the universe" gives me, I know that this comes from my heavenly father.

The list of "gifts from heaven" is long, but here is a selection:

Great sunset on the first day and pictures of the powerful surf.

God's promise that he will always show me the next bed. While checking out a restaurant, I discover a hostel in the same house and can check in. Shortly afterwards it starts to pour. 

The late check-in of one hostel causes me to go to another one and have a great conversation with another pilgrim.

Care and advice from a pharmacist for my blisters.

God's guidance to the hostel where I meet an American nurse specializing in foot problems who helps me analyze my blister problem and helps to find a solution. 

New shoes that allow me to walk on without blisters.

A nameless Portuguese angel, who shows me with hands and feet how to avoid the flooded path and I don't have to walk through knee-deep water like everyone else.

Joy of nature and encounters with different animals.

Hostel parents, who help me out when I can't find an ATM for a long time and where I can stay overnight and eat without cash. 

A German pilgrim who gives me a bottle of water when my supply runs out. 

Walking together with a French woman and some others as we get lost. 

Private hostels that have smaller dormitories and beds with curtains and power outlets. 

Conversations with God and his talking in the rain, which eventually leads to an answer in terms of my painting. 

No knee problems and no sprained feet.

Possibility to be in Santiago just when the reunion of my FB group takes place.

... and many other small and large gifts of God and special guidance.

There would be so much more to tell, but I hope this gives you a glimpse of what a special time this pilgrimage was.

But all in all I have to say that it was too short, because it took me two weeks to get into the pilgrimage mode and only a few days later I arrived in Santiago. And so it was soon clear that I wanted to go on pilgrimage again soon, but this time longer. The next pilgrimage is already in planning ....