Living in the Pacific Northwest and San Francisco, enjoying my own “Camino” every where I go!
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- Rambling
May 23, 3026
It’s crazy the synergistic aspects of walking while paradoxically the dichotomies at work.
“Thinking is generally thought of as doing nothing in a production-oriented culture, and doing nothing is hard to do. It’s best done by disguising it as doing something, and the something closest to doing nothing is walking. Walking itself is the intentional act closest to the unwilled rhythms of the body, to breathing and the beating of the heart. It strikes a delicate balance between working and idling, being and doing. It is a bodily labor that produces nothing but thoughts, experiences, arrivals.”. Wanderlust, Rebecca SolnitI’m kind of a multitasker so hitting daily mileage and fitness goals while soaking up vitamin D, enroute to the grocery store to fill up my backpack after dropping off my library book and snipping some rosemary for dinner feels like a Win. Or sun intake while walking my Grad Dog as exercise for us both. And if I’m not out in the middle of nowhere I might also listen to a Spanish lesson podcast. It’s great to meet a friend and get caught up without spending money on a coffee or meal, plus get the blood flowing and our 10,000 plus steps in. I walk to the dentist, to my chiropractor, massage therapist and financial advisor. I’ve even walked a couple of times from my home in Kirkland to Mariner baseball games in Seattle. Handsome Hubby and I like to find hikes near destinations – especially after a long drive and when out of town
Walking can be leisurely or productive – an easy stroll or a strenuous trek. When putting one foot in front of the other you could be headed to a known destination or just ambling along. Maybe lost – yet discovering newness. One can be present in the moment, reflecting upon the past or future tripping. Thoughts may drift or be scattered, laser focused on prayer, ideas or a plan, or maybe one’s head is “blank”
Another Rebecca Solnit quote from Wanderlust, “Walking, ideally, is a state in which the mind, the body, and the world are aligned, as though they were three characters finally in conversation together, three notes suddenly making a chord. Walking allows us to be in our bodies and in the world without being made busy by them. It leaves us free to think without being wholly lost in our thoughts.“
I’m still on the plane bound for Spain yet because of the nine hour time difference it’s now the next day there. My strategy for mitigating jet lag is to stay up until evening on my arrival day. So I’m a bit rummy and obviously rambling. Rambling.
