Hello Again

How far I’ve come. I can’t believe I waited so long to dive back into walking this January. Walking used to be top priority. Everything else was planned around it. For years. Decades. The longest amount of time between walks almost never exceeded a few days, barring winter cold snaps and summer rain. Traditionally, December was always a slog; too many things to do, etc, but the solace, the reward, was a walk. It’s much harder now that my current neighbourhood (mostly) precludes walking as a main form of commute, but when something isn’t a priority, it falls off the list. It fades away. I won’t let that happen to walking.

When I started walking in the mid-90’s, it fundamentally changed my life. It allowed positive things to grow. It opened the doorway for new things to flood in, freeing my mind, lifting my spirit, placing me – finally – where I belong. There is no where I feel more at home than in the woods, other than in front of a book or a blank page or canvas. I feel very lucky to have discovered this. In so many ways, walking saved my life.

I don’t need convincing. This is just a reminder.

Walk.

And so, I did.

On Thursday, Tom and I used my lunch hour to walk from Sask Drive through Emily Murphy to the river valley via the University. Yesterday (Saturday) we went for a two-hour walk in Whitemud Ravine. It was beautiful and restorative. More, please