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Walking Far

Aside Athousandbitsofpaper43 Comments

The morning amble

Watching my thoughts circle and pivot

We can be like a hawk in the sky

Or a fly trapped in a cobweb

I peel off the sticky threads

Returning to myself

Again

The further I go

The more I lose

And the more I find

Wandering along

Losing my mind

*When we sleep at night, something strange happens; the mind dreams and extraordinary things unfurl.

We wake thinking, “wow, that was insane!” We don’t really take it seriously because that is what we know about sleep

Nothing is real; we are just dreaming; it happens to everyone

That sense of endless possibility and freedom fades when we awaken. Our far-seeing, flying night hawk is hooded. Locked down by the logical part of us, which says, “hmmm nope, that won’t work”, and produces excuses as to why not.

There are other ways to access mindless freedom or freedom from the mind. Meditation is one which I practice. My favourite method involves walking

There isn’t a morning that I don’t get up early and go walking. In winter, it is a shorter window because, obviously, like most humans, I have things to do and can’t amble about all day. Rainy days mean raincoats and rubber boots, but still, we go.

Spring is back, and with it, the longer days. My morning starts before dawn (which is becoming earlier and earlier), and the daily walk extends to two, sometimes three hours, particularly on the weekends, when the pile of jobs waiting can be pushed further to the back of my mind.

What I like most about the extended walks through the spring and summer months is how it gives me time to watch my mind in all its convolutions. Most people are very distracted today, and nobody seems to spend that much time with themselves and, more particularly, inside themselves.

The modern world is all about being “out there”. Want happiness? It’s out there in people, places and things. Doing is where it’s all at. Achieving. Gathering. Hoarding. The only interior which exists for some seems to be the bright screen of a smartphone or tablet.

The true peace of the aimless wander with no distraction is deeply satisfying. I sometimes listen to podcasts but increasingly, I find them too noisy. Other people’s ideas and opinions can wait until I return; walking time is a period of grace to find out my own thoughts about things, and sometimes, it’s surprising.

Walking solo (dogs don’t count – they are the very best of quiet companions) with the phone on aeroplane mode, watching the colours of the sky change as the sun rises, observing the landscape and becoming so immersed in life that you notice every single miraculous thing.

Maybe I am becoming carried away here but allow me to share

This morning I saw a floating blossom of cobweb. What I noticed when I looked closer delighted me. This tiny spider had built a flying machine – a ball of gossamer on which to float across the road and land on a plant further away. Was it a one-off? No, the more I looked, the more I saw other tiny spiders attached to these little flying machines floating across my path.

That’s pretty damn miraculous. I don’t know who you are, but that is worth far more in terms of shock and awe than an Instagram scroll.

Surely.

I’ve been thinking about my daily morning habit a lot recently. Mainly because I truly look forward to it and can’t wait to get out the front door.

It is my most precious habit and has become a valuable tool for others as well.

I listened to a Rich Roll podcast with mountaineer and adventurer Colin O’Brady (who has walked across Antarctica and scaled ridiculously high peaks etc) but then when Covid hit was forced to contemplate life from a different angle.

One morning, deeply frustrated and anxious after being forcibly cooped up for so long, Colin took himself off for what turned into a twelve-hour walk. He was searching for the same peace and calm that had overtaken him during his time alone walking in Antarctica.

What he found was exactly that sort of peace but what was surprising to him was that he found it in a safe, almost suburban environment. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t in a challenging natural environment. It was the act of walking. Of unravelling. And he wrote a book about it, challenging everyone to do their own twelve-hour walk. He gained clarity and peace and came home rejuvenated and reset, full of creative ideas and inspiration.

Colin’s findings resonated.

I’ve done plenty of those all-day walks when I’m out hiking on extended trips, but I have found you don’t need twelve hours. You just need a couple of hours and a daily habit.

If you do this, depression will fade, anxiety will lift, and all the constructs of the mind will fall down.

In order to be emotionally swayed by your thoughts, you have to take them seriously. You have to take yourself seriously. And you can’t take yourself seriously after you’ve watched some of the crap that you can come up with out there walking.

And the more you keep company with yourself and watch yourself, the greater the contrast between what is real and what is imagined becomes clear to you.

It’s all just imagined

Asleep/awake – same thing, different channel

It may take a few long walks, and a little time, but eventually, all the mental diseases that humans suffer from, particularly in the modern world, can be unravelled. Or so I believe.

We think. Therefore we create

Everything we see is just light hitting our eyeballs and being thrown up upon the screen of our brain. We filter it through likes, dislikes, fears, aversions, attractions, tastes, logic, past, future, projection, intention, and desire.

Our entire world begins and ends in our heads.

But all the time, those little spiders are building flying machines

And we are missing out

Because we are too busy with our fabrications and dreams

Water always finds its own level, and so can we.

Just walk a little, walk more, walk far, and you’ll see

It’s just a dream we are creating; make it beautiful. Because it already is.

If you want to know how to live in the moment, watch a dog. I amble behind mine, and he sees everything, smells everything, touches everything and yes, pees on everything 😂

Have a lovely day, and take a walk X

43 thoughts on “Walking Far”

    • They are very precious and it’s the one thing I insist on taking for myself before anything else in the day can begin Rosaliene. Most people who know me, know I’m unavailable until 8.30am – and if they don’t then they just have to wait 😊

      Reply

  4. I’ve never seen parachuting spiders before. That must be an awesome sight. A few years ago, when my saturday run was 2 – 3 hours long I frequently hit that state of peace. I loved it. These days all of my walking is with podcasts or with company. The runs are still distraction-free, but rarely extend more than an hour. Maybe someday… Very nice post.

    Reply

    • Thanks Jeff, I commonly listen to music when I run (usually to drown out the sound of my own whining internal voice 😂) but walking is a different sort of thing and even though I always take ear buds in case I want to listen to a podcast and my phone for emergencies I rarely use them, other than for in the case of the phone, photos that catch my eye. I highly recommend it as a practice though, it’s a period of grace that we can carve out for ourselves.

      Reply

    • I think being fully present is becoming a bit of a super power Monty – I can’t always manage it throughout the day but during my walk I try to remain as focused on the surroundings as possible and moving meditation seems easier than sitting meditation, for me at least.

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      • I once wrote a piece about my super power being to slow down and be fully present (I think I called it “slo-mo man” or something). Definitely a superpower!

  8. A wonderful reminder, Kate. I especially like the encouragement about any environment being suitable, because most of us can’t just go out into wide open spaces that easily on a daily basis.

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    • I actually enjoy the change when I am in a city or town. I love architecture and buildings and people (and especially dog) watching. It doesn’t seem to matter where it is as long as Im walking and outside. I always come home just as rejuvenated and peaceful no matter if it is city scape or beach or natural environments. There is something about moving forward at the speed in which the human body is ultimately designed to go – walking pace. We are upright, beautifully balanced animals, with limbs that swing and stretch. I think our nervous system relaxes and tones when we walk, as well as our body.

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  11. What a brilliant post.
    I am almost motivated to go for a walk.
    Will try and fit one in tomorrow.
    No, just looked at the time.
    Make that today.
    Think I had better get back to bed.

    Reply

  13. This is such a beautiful and inspirational post, Kate. I feel like I’ve been on your walk with you, which is lovely as walking outdoors isn’t something I, as a wheelchair user, can’t do anymore. However, I do enjoy going for a drive along the footpath by my local river, noticing all the different aspects of nature as the seasons change. I have also seen those self-propelled flying spiders before, usually with their webs hung across the branches of bushes and shrubs. They are fascinating to watch. I do miss my walks in the country, but am happy and grateful that I have my trusty wheelchair to get me about. I love your photographs and your dog sounds adorable. A lovely companion. Thank you for taking me along with you on your peaceful journey. Xx 💖

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    • My pleasure Ellie. I’m glad you have accessible paths out into nature. I think that awareness is becoming better around such things perhaps? We have quite a few wide concrete paths along creeks and parks where I live, when Mum was in a wheelchair I was able to take her for quite long meandering rides along them. Unfortunately until you are in the situation I don’t think it is something that a lot of thought is given to.

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  14. Am so inspired by this post. You are so creative, you have used different perspective only to come up with this message of being present and enjoying it. Nature is medicine for most of us I’ve always had a habit of going for a run each morning and it has brought drastic changes in my life. Looking forward to spending more time in nature 😀

    Reply

    • Thanks for reading, I’m glad you enjoyed the post. I used to run, sometimes still do. Life is so fast already, I like to slow it down these days and have reaped the benefits of an improved headspace but you do you. Whichever way we begin our day I think the important thing is to spend at least some of it in nature 😊

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    • Probably John, the titles just write themselves sometimes and I find them difficult to change even though they would also capture more interest or better analytics – they just write themselves 😊

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