Memoirs are always inspiring for me to read, and they make me want to write of my own. The difficulty there is opening up your personal life and thoughts to your readers. Author Cathay O. Reta has managed to overcome that vulnerability in order to publish her memoir Keep Walking, Your Heart Will Catch Up: A Camino de Santiago Journey. Below is my interview with Reta about her book, her writing process, and her inspirations behind it.
About the author and book
Author name/pen name: Cathay O. Reta
Author links:
Book title: Keep Walking, Your Heart Will Catch Up: A Camino de Santiago Journey
Genres: body, mind and spirit; travel memoir
Links to buy:
Book summary
Keep Walking, Your Heart Will Catch Up is a modern-day pilgrimage and spiritual journey. At age 65, Cathay was widowed and looking for direction for her next 30 years of life. She decided to hike a centuries old 483-mile trail across northern Spain. This book is her journey of self-discovery and transformation, set in the magical, mystical field of stars – the Camino de Santiago.
Book excerpt
Day 15 Excerpt:
As I sit at the shaded table I’m touched by the morning calm, and the word penance comes to mind. In fact, it’s crossed my mind a few times on the walk. Certainly no one would do this except as penance, as a type of punishment. I look in my online dictionary for its definition — a voluntary, self-inflicted expression of repentance. Putting that together with what I had received about absolution on my first day back in Roncesvalles, I start to get some clarity.
This Camino brings together a physical struggle to match the inner breaking of the heart and of the soul. I think that it gives depth and tangibility to what’s felt inside. The physical challenge is drawing emotional pain to my conscious mind – to become aware of it, to see it and name it, to absolve it. And there it is – absolution.
Too often we try to just handle everything in the mind. Detached. Untouched. Uninvolved. But the power of transformation comes when the flow of life and pain seep through the cracks, when the physical touches the soul. Those emotions express in the physical and present themselves to the mind. The mind is the observer taking it all in . . . and beginning to understand.
Ah, I think. That’s the Camino. It’s the beginning of understanding. It’s letting go and accepting. It’s an unfolding . . . of healing . . . of truth . . . of community.
I have a growing sense of this, and I know it will become clearer as I continue on. I imagine it will still be unfolding long after I’ve returned home.
Review excerpts
This travel memoir will show readers the beauty and challenges of walking the Camino, as well as its fascinating history. One will even learn the mechanics of the trek. However, this book is so much more. I enjoyed the diverse people she met from around the world, embarking on this journey for various reasons. Not only do we learn about her adventure, but day by day something is revealed to her about herself. Cathay’s thoughts and account of her 37-day hike are truly inspirational. Whether you are interested in hiking the Camino de Santiago or learning how one woman looked inward to change her life, I highly recommend this book. – JD Jung, UnderRated Reads
The author, a recent widow turning sixty-five, finds herself at a cross road in her life. She embarks on a physical, emotional, and spiritual journey on the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Well written and easy to read, Keep Walking Your Heart Will Catch Up will help you to open up and find your own path forward. — Susan Walters
KEEP WALKING, YOUR HEART WILL CATCH UP is an invitation to walk alongside Cathay on her pilgrimage through the Spanish countryside. She openly invites the reader to experience her thoughts, feelings, and fears along the way. Nothing is held back. Her story will inspire you to reflect on your own personal journey wherever it may take you! — Donna Valkos
Talking Shop
What do you want readers to take away from your books?
I want readers to feel inspired. I want them to awaken to the idea that they are beautiful, that they are special and have value. At times I get concerned that maybe my writing reveals too much about my inner soul. It can be embarrassing to expose what’s going on inside – to expose what I’ve built a wall of silence around for years. What propels me, however, is that I do know I am not unique or alone in my experiences and thinking. Many people are going through the same things I am, but not expressing it. So if my writing helps them to identify something that troubles them and gives them the courage to face it and grow through it, then I am happy. That’s what I want.
What’s the best review/compliment that you’ve received about your book?
Bob, the friend of a friend read an early copy of the manuscript for me. I was interested in hearing objective reactions from people who do not know me. Bob was very complimentary about the book. I especially appreciate this line that he shared:
“Again, I am not an avid reader, but I read the remaining 58 pages in one sitting.”
That said a lot. That indicated to me that my book was something a reader – even a reluctant reader – might have a hard time putting down.
What famous books can you compare to your own?
I took a copy of Hinds’ Feet on High Places to read on my journey across Spain. Written by Hannah Hurnard in 1955, it’s a Christian allegory about a character named Much Afraid. Her life is transformed as she travels from the Valley of Fear to the High Places.
I had read the book in the 70s and remembered it was very inspirational to me then. I didn’t remember its detail, but I decided to revisit it while walking the Camino. I was awestruck — and comforted — to see my daily grind parallel Much Afraid’s trials and tribulations. I quickly understood that it was not by chance I had taken this book with me. I was on the same journey that Much Afraid made.
Secondly, I would compare Keep Walking to Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed. Cheryl was walking to find herself after her mother’s death, even as I was walking after my husband’s death. Cheryl’s hike was much longer and much more strenuous so I never thought I was doing anything like she did. I never thought of it as a comparison; but in the end, there are similarities. We were both walking to find something lost. Through the experience, we both reached deep inside and found ourselves. In my book I write what I think we’ve both experienced:
“I’m aware that I’m in the middle of a healing union of mind, spirit and body. I’m developing a vague concept that these physical hardships of walking the Camino are connected to something in my soul, in my spirit. I think it can only be accessed when I’m at the end of my physical strength. I don’t quite understand, but I know there’s something to it.”
How long have you considered yourself a writer? Did you have any formal training, or is it something you learned as you went?
I have dreamed of being a writer since I was a child. When I was twelve years old, I began writing stories. My favorite television series at that time was “Man from U.N.C.L.E.” so I suppose it’s no surprise that my stories featured my friends and me as spies.
As an adult, I continued to write, but on a more practical level centering around my work in adult literacy programs — newsletters, grant proposals, website content, etc. I’ve even had articles relating to my work in adult literacy published in trade magazines. I would easily tell people that I like to write, but I was never so bold as to call myself a writer until now with the publication of my book.
I’ve had no formal training in creative writing. However, writing grant proposals has taught me to edit my work and make every word count.
If you don’t make a living exclusively writing, what is your day job? How, in any way, does it relate to your life as a writer?
My day job is in the field of adult literacy. I started as a volunteer tutor and within a year was offered the position of adult literacy coordinator at my local public library. That turned into 35 years of literacy work in local libraries, on the statewide level in California, and nationally with the nonprofit organization ProLiteracy.
I’m humbled to witness the way a new reader values the simple act of reading. Reading was always easy for me and I took it for granted. Approaching it through the eyes of an adult who is new to the skill has changed me. One of the greatest influences in my life is a woman who entered our program with a second-grade reading level and finished community college with honors. One day she looked around the library and told me that in elementary school her class would visit the library. She always wondered what was written in all of those books. She assumed it must be something important and had always longed to be able to read them. She reminds me of the connection we gain with one another through books we write and we read.
What is the most fun part about writing? The most difficult?
The most fun part about writing? I learn so much when I write. I get inspired. My eyes are opened. It’s fun when I’m in a zone where the words just come pouring out, like I’m taking dictation from some voice deep within. I will sometimes have an idea about what I want to say, but it doesn’t materialize until I am in the middle of writing it. Sometimes I will look back over passages I’ve written and wonder where those words came from. Did I really write them? Is it weird to admit that I get impressed by my own writing at times?
What’s the most difficult? It’s difficult when I am writing, but I’m not in the zone. I write because I need to even when the words don’t flow. I’m aware that if I only write when I feel the flow, I will write very little. I have to write regardless of how I feel to get the pump primed. That is dedication. That is the secret to getting inspired and into the flow.
“What If” Scenarios
If your book ever becomes a movie and you get final say over the cast, which actors would you hire to play your characters?
Now that’s a fun question. I would like for Kathy Bates to play me. As much as I would like it to be someone like Jane Fonda or Meryl Streep who are older women but slim, toned and gorgeous, a more appropriate choice is Bates. An older, plump rather plain-looking woman – that is more like me. I’m good with that and would be honored to be portrayed by her.
I’m the only person who is a constant throughout the script. Other characters come and go and would present great opportunities for cameo roles. It would be lovely for Andy Garcia to play Lalo, the host at the hostel where I spent three days. I was quite smitten with him.
If you could have one person that you admire, living or dead, read your book, who would it be?
Brené Brown. Her research and writings on vulnerability have inspired me. I quote her a few times in my book and would love for her to know the impact that she has had on me. I know that I am just one of her many fans and followers, but I do think my experience described in my book would be a tribute she would recognize and appreciate.
A wealthy reader buys 100 copies of your book and tells you to hand them out to anyone you wish. Who do you give them to?
I would give them to organizations which serve women in periods of transition, such as homeless shelters, domestic violence victims, widows in grief groups, etc.
Your book becomes a best seller. What do you do next?
I panic. How do you follow that? That puts the pressure on, but then again it’s a good pressure, right?
You have the means to hire a full time assistant to help you with your writing. What tasks do you give them to do?
I actually have a good friend who has helped me a lot, and I would love to have the means to pay her. She keeps checking in with me (pushing me) to make progress on my writing projects. She helps me to make lists of tasks and then follows up to make sure I do the work to check them off. She is full of ideas for marketing and getting the word out. If I had the means I would hire her to help perform these tasks. I would also task her with fact-checking and researching information to support my writings – historical and geographical data and such.
Just for Fun
What legacy do you want to leave behind?
Three years ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with a thought of what I want to leave in this world, what I want people to remember about me. I even got out of bed and wrote it down: She inspired people to reach beyond what they thought was possible and to give voice to their unspoken dreams. I would be pleased to have that legacy.
One bucket list item you’ve completed and one that’s still on your list.
Not surprisingly, writing my book was one bucket list item. I’ve now checked that off. Another one on the list is to dance flamenco! I will have to overcome a lot of shyness and self-inhibition, but I think I can do that now.
A movie or a piece of music that changed your life.
Dvorak’s From the New World Symphony (Symphony No. 9 in E Minor) moves me. In high school I played flute and we performed this piece. We had a hard time with it. We rehearsed it over and over again. It was rather grueling. Then when we performed it at a statewide band competition, it was beautiful. We did well and I felt such a stirring within – joy, happiness, gratitude. To this day, some 50 years later, those feelings still well up in me when I hear a live performance of the piece. It’s a reminder to me of how rewarding hard work can be.
Favorite time of/part of your day.
I love the early mornings when I wake up and have time alone to meditate, to read, to do some yoga and to prepare myself for the day. Mornings are especially beautiful when the sun comes out. I get excited. That’s probably because I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona where I took the sun for granted. Now I live in the Pacific Northwest and we sometimes go days when the sun barely makes an appearance. I get all giddy and excited when the sun comes out.
Favorite place you’ve visited/place you want to visit.
Guadalajara, in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. The first time I visited there, a friend observed and said to me, “You are one with Guadalajara.” That perfectly described what I was feeling and what I feel every time I return.
Your favorite podcast.
My current favorite podcast is Brené Brown’s Unlocking Us.
An equal favorite is Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul Sundays and Super Soul Conversations, which is where I was first introduced to Brené Brown and many others who have influenced me. I began to listen to Oprah’s sessions when I was in a time of transition. I had left a church group I had been with for years and began really considering what I believe and what my life purpose is. It opened a beautiful new world to me.
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