Walking and What We Learn Along the Way

I’ve heard more than once that the answer to many of life’s problems, large or small, can benefit from one simple activity.

Need to lift your spirits? Take a walk.

Looking for a new idea? Take a walk.

Want to reduce the risk of dementia? Take a walk.

I’ve always enjoyed walking and never considered the health or mental benefits. Something about wandering and looking at everything around me became reason enough to slip on my sneakers and go exploring.

I walked across the pastures of my grandparents’ farm with a Big Chief tablet and a yellow pencil, drawing and writing snippets of what I saw and felt. In our post-war suburban neighborhood of the 1950s, I would walk through the streets to the park or the supermarket.

After a difficult meeting, you could find me walking around the building and through the parking lots until I could work out the stress or come up with a potential solution. Sometimes, I invite a colleague to join me to vent or brainstorm.

I’m not a serious, hike fifty miles type of gal, but the best places for walking, thinking, being, always include nature. I walked in the woods and captured the sun peeking through the trees against a brilliant blue sky—small gift of hope.

As the sun set, the mix of sky, sun, clouds, and trees gifted me a moody display of colors. What story could they tell?

I’m not alone in my fixation with walking. Aristotle walked while his students followed and listened. Charles Dickens wandered the streets of London until dawn when he couldn’t sleep. Henry David Thoreau pondered the strife of his world as he sauntered around Walden Pond. Walking inspired Beethoven to compose beautiful music.

Walking doesn’t belong to a select few or the young. Emma Rowena Gatewood, known as Grandma Gatewood, walked the Appalachian Trail in the 1950s at the age of 67. She left one day with only a blanket and a plastic sheet, wearing red Keds. That doesn’t sound too daunting until you consider the length of the Appalachian Trail, 2,193.1 miles.

I don’t think I’ll follow in the footsteps of Grandma Gatewood, but I will continue to wander and observe the miracles just outside my doorstep. What can we learn from walking?

The possibilities are endless.

Walk with a song

Words to ponder as you walk

“Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Every day I walk myself into a state of well-being & walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it. But by sitting still, & the more one sits still, the closer one comes to feeling ill. Thus if one just keeps on walking, everything will be all right.”
—Søren Kierkegaard

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And always—