Organizing the unexpected

Or how the alchemy of the Camino is invited into Woaching

During my long walks on the Camino, I have often been surprised, even struck, by unexpected discoveries. Such as meeting someone I have become dear to me following a mistake along the way... such a church door pushed open by chance that reveals to me an incredible workshop where elders pass on their DIY knowledge to the young people of the village... such a variation of the path that I choose to take at the last moment and that leads me to an extraordinary lodge... How many experiences would I have missed if I had followed a planned plan!

I wondered about this remarkable phenomenon. I discovered that there was a word to express it: serendipity.

Serendipity is the act of making an unexpected discovery by chance that later turns out to be fruitful. The word is mainly used in the field of scientific research. It allows the researcher to make an unexpected discovery, of greater importance or interest than the object of his initial research, and designates the ability of this same researcher to be open to the unexpected and to seize and then exploit this "chance".

And in fact, the walker is also a seeker. Often searching for himself. I've often heard testimonies from walkers expressing that they found much more on their journey than they were looking for. And I've experienced it myself.

When I began leading the first week-long Woaching sessions (Sculpter son Chemin) with my brother Marc, who also has extensive experience walking the Camino, we realized that it was possible to foster this phenomenon, for the benefit of the participants. To allow them to experience in a Woaching session things that we had learned to experience during our long walks.

So, throughout the support sessions, we have applied ourselves to, in a way, "organizing the unexpected discovery"! That is to say, leaving room for chance to express itself and knowing how to recognize it and seize it to do something with it, when it expresses itself.

Let's take a minute for an example.

One day, while we were walking with the group on a path near Lodève, we came across a huge rock slab on which some walkers had made a huge spiral with pebbles.

It was completely unexpected. When we scouted the route a few days earlier, this spiral didn't exist. As we passed by, we were about to take a break for lunch.

The idea springs forth. We can do something with this spiral. We don't know what yet. We stop the group. While they eat lunch, Marc and I agree on an exercise we will do after lunch. So, instead of what was "planned," we ask each participant to take turns walking in the spiral, miming the changes they are experiencing in their lives. And to film it. Then, adapting our route, we return to the same spot to do the same exercise two days later.

In the evening, at the lodge, during the session of viewing the differences between the videos, everyone was able to observe, in a totally unexpected and striking way, the progression of their awareness of the changes they are experiencing.

With experience, we begin to understand the mechanisms at work in this way of supporting. In my opinion, they are based on three or four precious ingredients:

• bring participants to discover the program over time, to let it come;

• trust our experience of the long walk on the Camino to recognize the opportunities that the path offers us, and to bring participants to become aware of them;

• design the flow of our programs with great adaptability of the workshops, and margin on the "timing" of each day to allow flexibility in the flow;

• trust the process to deliver something beyond expectations

Thus, in both the two-day (Eclairer son Chemin) and one-week (Sculpter son Chemin) courses, serendipity comes into play and allows many, if not everyone, to testify that their experience has brought them certain precious things that they did not expect.

And neither do we!

Francois