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Day 15 - Ri

Viterbo → Vetralla (18 km)

If you missed the other days, you can access them here.

There’s a few words in Italian that start with “ri”: ritornare, rifare, rivedere, ricominciare. From the Latin “re” – “again”, “anew”, “back”. The Romans and the Etruscans had a lot of gods for a lot of practical aspects of daily life. Hecate was the Greek goddess of crossroads and the protector of travel. The Romans called her Trivia. In that spirit, I discovered a god of my own on this walk, who I call “Ri”.

I noticed Ri’s presence a few days in, when I got used to starting afresh in the morning. Having another go at the day, despite my body aching and not wanting to get out of bed. But Ri was there to support me. Above all, Ri is the god of iteration. Whenever you try again, you invoke Ri. Ri asks “Can you make it better?” without any judgement. Ri’s voice is that of encouragement, whether you’re walking or engaging in a creative practice.

Ri is not very social with other gods, because being alone is required. When you need to go again and again and again, you’ll feel alone, maybe lonely. Some things you need to do by yourself and Ri is there to remind you that it’s part of the process.

Ri has a French homophone: ris - laughter. That’s because Ri is also the god of joy on the walk. The joy of petting the cat that meows at 7:30 am for the lady on the first floor to throw the daily prosciutto. The joy of blowing a dandelion in your partner’s face and tasting grapes from vineyards in Tuscany. The joy of taking a cold dip in an old Roman bath to get out of the Frying Pan. The joy of shade after a long stretch in the scorching sun. Ri is even there to help us find joy when we’re soaked and still have a few kilometers to go. Ri is all about joy.

Ri is all about intention and asks of you to be intentional. What are you walking for? Observe what you are doing or not, saying or not, hearing or not. What’s getting in the way? Ri holds up a mirror to your face to look and ask yourself: “What do I want at the end of it all?”

Ri also has a thing or two to say about self-worth. Whenever the critical radio host starts the hourly show on Mind FM, Ri changes the frequency. When the self-doubt kicks in, whether it’s worth walking or writing, Ri is there to provide encouragement. Ri helped me keep going throughout these past 15 days in small and big ways. Ri, like other gods, requires an offering to maintain pax deorum, the peace of the gods. Otherwise, not keeping my end of the bargain would upset them. The kilometers clocked today, trying my best at staying open and this dispatch were my offerings for Ri today.

May Ri walk with you too,

Florin