Thinking . Through . My . Feet
I am incredibly blessed.
We have a place in a secluded spot near the sea. We are surrounded by hills and wildlife and ocean. I love it.
When we arrive I feel so thrilled to be here - but as each day passes I begin to feel a dread. Then, like today, my temper is short and I am a little snappy with everyone. And, as a consequence, I am not enjoying my time here. I realise that I am focussed on the future (when I have to leave) rather than the present (these minutes that I have before they slip away).
So, the only thing for me to do is what I love to do and have done since my teens; l take myself to my local beach and walk.
And as I walk I breathe and try to clear my mind. I listen to the waves surging onto the shore, I feel the chill of the wind against my face and the cool sand pressed beneath my bare feet. From one end to the other I walk.
By the time I make my way back, I am calmer - less ‘in my head’, more ‘aware' somehow. I listen to my inner compass and allow myself to be lead. I smile at a pair of hooded plovers (they mate for life), I find a majestic feather around forty centimetres long (perhaps from a Wedge-tailed eagle - a special and favourite bird of mine).
The person I am leaving the beach is different to the one who arrived - and I am grateful for the time and opportunity to have this experience.
While writing this I am reminded of the quote
Solvitur ambulando - “It is solved by walking."
While this quote was a response by the Greek philosopher Diogenes in the 4th-century B.C.E when questioned whether motion is real (he got up and walked); my introduction to it was in Julia Cameron’s hugely influential book for creatives, The Artist’s Way. In it Julia advocates walking as essential to the creative process. Walking provides an opportunity for thoughts and ideas to percolate, bubble, flit in and out.
Many creatives, philosophers, thinkers and writers have done just that. In an age where we all seem compelled to measure our 10,000 steps, we have forgotten that walking is not solely (😉) about getting from here to there. Walking is about meandering and of being mindful throughout that the journey IS the journey.
