walk

“Methinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow.”
– Henry David Thoreau

I love to wander, and not just in a mental way.

The benefits of walking are numerous. Most importantly, as you move your body, the blood begins flowing to all your organs, including your wonderful brain.

When I first quit my job to play at being a writer, I’d walk the nearby nature trails at least once a week. It was great! I saw deer and squirrels playing, found abandoned houses, met a homeless man who carved steps into the hillside leading up to his encampment, and I can’t count the number of story solutions that came to me during those walks.

It’s been a while since I’ve walked those trails, but I still walk. A lot. I walk to and from work each day, and I still see deer walking the streets every now and then.

This past Saturday, I was fortunate enough to pick up some overtime at work, and after I just wandered around the streets I first walked when I moved to Pittsburgh. I felt drawn to the stomping grounds of my salad days, so I bused across the Monongahela River and strolled through the Southside.

Maybe I was feeling nostalgic. Maybe I just wanted to move, to be reminded of the places I’d spent so much time in my younger and more formative years.

Maybe I was looking for a connection. I wanted an external one, and instead I got more familiar with myself. This has been happening more often lately, and I’m so happy and deeply thankful for that. Plus, I had a G I N O R M O U S slice of ‘za from Benny Fierro’s, so it was def a good walk.

Today, there’s no prompt from Five Minutes in the Morning, just the simple request to go for a walk. If you want, you can make it a quick five-minute walk around the block. If you want to get crazy with it, make it longer – don’t even worry about the time. Walk without a destination.

Here are some pics from a recent walk: