The fractal theory/coherence of mental and physical staten is an incredibly interesting line of thought.
And this is one of my favourite paragraphs I have read on substack:
There might not be any natural remedy in the world as protective as walking against the deadening impact of our sedentary, chair-bound, screen-mesmerized lives. Walking is the original form of scrolling. Yet it doesn’t lead us down online rabbit holes, but past real rabbit holes. It keeps us grounded, literally by keeping our feet on the ground. It keeps us softly fascinated by ever-changing scenery. Walking is calming, head-clearing, and social and even spiritual when we do it together. If walking were a food, it would be a celebrated superfood packed with nutrients that feed our mind, body, relationships, and contact with nature—and it would cost nothing.
-just brilliant Ruth! I keep a common place book of quotes - and this paragraph is going in it in its entirety.
Yes Hadden! That fractal comment was the bit that stood out to me too! I have pondered this in negative form- when I have been thinking about what makes nature-gazing so pleasing, I theorised it as an ABSENCE of the things that make city-dwelling such an assault on the senses: in nature there are no words, images, straight lines (except for the sea at the horizon); it's a rest from commerce-laden human-madeness. But of course nature has its own deeply pleasing complexity. I have noticed when drawing plants that they have the perfect level of complexity for my human mind to understand: complex enough to occupy my whole mind, yet not so complex that they are beyond comprehension. That's probably because we're co-evolved.
There is also a particular kind of ISNESS: the specific ways that life expresses itself at any given place and time, forms, colours, movement, harmony and surprise. Even walking the same walk over and over, it's never the same twice.
To be honest, a walking pace is often too fast for me: my deep-observational pace is a kind of treacly dawdle. Sometimes when I'm walking with others I feel like I'm being rushed through an art gallery, seeing art out of the corner of my eye then whisk, gone. That can feel like torture, which is why I prefer to wander alone.
These are the things I *know* and yet our culture of efficiency and convenience (a la the machine) make it so easy to forget.
I read this at the coffeeshop while my youngest did independent work beside me. We had plans to move to the library, about a quarter mile away, once it was time for math. Lately we’ve been driving — but this inspired an EASY “hey bud, we’re going to leave our car here and walk to the library today.”
Along the way we wandered through a piece of civil war history we’ve always seen from the road and never stopped to inspect. It was an absolutely delight, and I’m so thankful for this reminder (and challenge!!).
Thanks for sharing Kristine :) Yes, walking the routes that we usually drive brings along all sorts of surprises and discoveries that get missed when we zoom by them. Glad you took up the challenge :)
Walking while praying has been an enduring joy in my life. A friend once joked referring to it as a true "walkie talkie", walking whilst talking with God.
Thanks - you inspired me to get away from my desk, where I was sitting in frustration, and take a quick walk with my husband. Big improvement to the day.
With a bad knee and hips, I will walk short distances. I’m aiming for 15-20 min. I will see how I do. I live in the city, and in my neighborhood we have dogs who often run loose, this often deters me, but I’m determined.
Fun little example of a problem solved by walking: My toddler has been resisting her nap and all my usual tricks haven’t been working. So, lately, I’ve been popping her in the backpack carrier (which is safe for her to fall asleep in because she rests on my back) and taking a walk for half an hour or so. Usually, by that time, she’s fallen asleep from the motion and the fresh air, and I can lay her down, feeling much calmer than I would if I’d been wrestling with her in the bedroom all that time.
Yes, great example! I used the same method to get my youngest son to sleep during his first few months. I would pack him in an Ergocarrier and saunter through the neighbourhood before bedtime; he would nod off and I could simply transfer him to bed when I came home. It was a perfect solution for both of us:)
Thank you Ruth and Peco. It is an honor to have my little contribution included in this post. Since I walk as a primary form of “getting around” I am definitely in on the Walking Rebellion! Thank you to all who plan to participate. Envisioning all of you out there walking actually makes me feel much less alone as a non-driving adult. There are so many benefits to walking, it’s true. I applaud all of you who will be walking this month!
Walking has changed my life over the years. I am realizing that I have a lot to share about what walking means in my life. I will plan to write posts and notes about walking as I participate in the Walking Rebellion!
Thank you for the encouragement to work walking back into my life. I miss it! During college, I at first got around by bike a lot, and very much enjoyed zooming across the grass, past slower pedestrians and drivers stuck in traffic. But after a while, I felt like I didn’t have enough thinking time, so I decided to walk places until I’d done enough thinking to figure out what kind of trees my friends and I would each be, if we were trees. This took quite a number of walking-journeys worth of thinking, and they were good journeys, thinking about friends, and trees, and a lot of other things. Later on, walking was my favorite way to get to know the new cities and towns where I was living and some of the people in them.
For the past year I've been telling people that "all I do is walk and make pictures," which is true, and it's been the most amazing year of my life. Spending most of this year from March to just yesterday on pilgrimage is an incredible way to live, and this kind of slowing movement through land and life has coincided with more positive change than I've ever experienced before. The best part, I've found, is that walking is transformative for the exact opposite reason people often seem to think it is. They expect some sort of grand revelation every time, or wild creative insight, but in reality most of the time the way God reveals reality to you on a long walk is just through the quiet and simple living of an authentically human life. He doesn't spell stuff out in the sky for me on every pilgrimage, He just leaves bits and pieces for me to find and love along the way which all come together into the occasional great insights and ideas I've found while walking. I find that I feel like something like a saint on pilgrimage, and then I get home to computers and cars and nonsense and traffic and I'm back down to a frustrated, exhausted individual. But someday I'll find a way to soften that jarring transition, and maybe even spend the rest of my life walking like this.
Thanks for sharing Ryan - completely resonnate with your experience here: " He doesn't spell stuff out in the sky for me on every pilgrimage, He just leaves bits and pieces for me to find and love along the way which all come together into the occasional great insights and ideas I've found while walking." Well said!
I'm currently struggling with back-to-back foot injuries that have mostly kept me from walking for the last 3 months, so reading this post felt bittersweet. I had just walked my first full mile after recovering from the first injury and later that same day I incurred my second. But reading this did remind me of all the things I love (and miss) about walking. Once I'm better again, I am looking forward to starting slow and eventually putting more miles behind my feet again.
This is wonderful. I’m an anxious wreck if I don’t get out for at least one walk (preferably two walks) a day. It’s been one of the most life-giving, sanity-saving, health-engendering practices I’ve embraced.
Shoot, this is inspiring. It sounds exhausting to be a revolutionary, but now I'm certain I lost something valuable when I traded in my walking for driving some years back.
Maybe I can get it back. I thought I had grown up and put away some eccentricity I no longer wished to be marked by when I got a car at thirty-six years old and started to drive like everyone else. And it's true it opened up some opportunities I wouldn't have had access to otherwise.
But something in me has withered away, and though I'm too old to believe in magic solutions or any one cause for this ennui, I recall I used to walk rain or shine to get where I was going, and the moments in between were often more meaningful, and the whole held together a little better, and things were slower and fuller.
Glad that the post prompted some inspiration :) Over the years I have walked less than I used to, but am making deliberate efforts to keep it part of my daily life. It does indeed feel like something withers when we give up our walking feet. Hope you feel encouraged and can find them again!
Oh I missed this, but love the idea! I didn’t have a car till age 30, and then avoided driving (not necessarily a good thing, it was an anxiety response) till my first daughter was born 4 years later. I walked to work in all weathers (much better than road rage!) and when I couldn’t walk/take transit, I found people to carpool with and would make friends that way. In my youth long walks were my opportunity to be alone with my own thoughts.
That changed with kids though: we drive most places now, though in the summer there’s more time to wander. Walking is mostly recreational now and I have to carve time out for it.
We got our first major snowfall lately too, so from where I set now it’s not immediately obvious to me how I would make walking a regular part of my routine. You make a good argument for it though, so now I’m wondering.
The fractal theory/coherence of mental and physical staten is an incredibly interesting line of thought.
And this is one of my favourite paragraphs I have read on substack:
There might not be any natural remedy in the world as protective as walking against the deadening impact of our sedentary, chair-bound, screen-mesmerized lives. Walking is the original form of scrolling. Yet it doesn’t lead us down online rabbit holes, but past real rabbit holes. It keeps us grounded, literally by keeping our feet on the ground. It keeps us softly fascinated by ever-changing scenery. Walking is calming, head-clearing, and social and even spiritual when we do it together. If walking were a food, it would be a celebrated superfood packed with nutrients that feed our mind, body, relationships, and contact with nature—and it would cost nothing.
-just brilliant Ruth! I keep a common place book of quotes - and this paragraph is going in it in its entirety.
Yes, I can verify that I wrote that paragraph -- and without the assistance of AI. :)
Yes, I loved coming across that theory and the idea of "pink noise".
That is actually Peco's paragraph - I'll let him know that it will get a place in your book of quotes :)
Excellent work Peco! I shall give it the proper attribution :)
Thank you!
Yes Hadden! That fractal comment was the bit that stood out to me too! I have pondered this in negative form- when I have been thinking about what makes nature-gazing so pleasing, I theorised it as an ABSENCE of the things that make city-dwelling such an assault on the senses: in nature there are no words, images, straight lines (except for the sea at the horizon); it's a rest from commerce-laden human-madeness. But of course nature has its own deeply pleasing complexity. I have noticed when drawing plants that they have the perfect level of complexity for my human mind to understand: complex enough to occupy my whole mind, yet not so complex that they are beyond comprehension. That's probably because we're co-evolved.
There is also a particular kind of ISNESS: the specific ways that life expresses itself at any given place and time, forms, colours, movement, harmony and surprise. Even walking the same walk over and over, it's never the same twice.
To be honest, a walking pace is often too fast for me: my deep-observational pace is a kind of treacly dawdle. Sometimes when I'm walking with others I feel like I'm being rushed through an art gallery, seeing art out of the corner of my eye then whisk, gone. That can feel like torture, which is why I prefer to wander alone.
These are the things I *know* and yet our culture of efficiency and convenience (a la the machine) make it so easy to forget.
I read this at the coffeeshop while my youngest did independent work beside me. We had plans to move to the library, about a quarter mile away, once it was time for math. Lately we’ve been driving — but this inspired an EASY “hey bud, we’re going to leave our car here and walk to the library today.”
Along the way we wandered through a piece of civil war history we’ve always seen from the road and never stopped to inspect. It was an absolutely delight, and I’m so thankful for this reminder (and challenge!!).
Thanks for sharing Kristine :) Yes, walking the routes that we usually drive brings along all sorts of surprises and discoveries that get missed when we zoom by them. Glad you took up the challenge :)
Walking while praying has been an enduring joy in my life. A friend once joked referring to it as a true "walkie talkie", walking whilst talking with God.
Thanks - you inspired me to get away from my desk, where I was sitting in frustration, and take a quick walk with my husband. Big improvement to the day.
Wonderful! Glad it improved your day :)
With a bad knee and hips, I will walk short distances. I’m aiming for 15-20 min. I will see how I do. I live in the city, and in my neighborhood we have dogs who often run loose, this often deters me, but I’m determined.
Kudos to you Annette! That is determination! Happy to have you walking along :)
Fun little example of a problem solved by walking: My toddler has been resisting her nap and all my usual tricks haven’t been working. So, lately, I’ve been popping her in the backpack carrier (which is safe for her to fall asleep in because she rests on my back) and taking a walk for half an hour or so. Usually, by that time, she’s fallen asleep from the motion and the fresh air, and I can lay her down, feeling much calmer than I would if I’d been wrestling with her in the bedroom all that time.
Yes, great example! I used the same method to get my youngest son to sleep during his first few months. I would pack him in an Ergocarrier and saunter through the neighbourhood before bedtime; he would nod off and I could simply transfer him to bed when I came home. It was a perfect solution for both of us:)
My babies always wake when I lay them down. But pack naps are still handy!
Thank you Ruth and Peco. It is an honor to have my little contribution included in this post. Since I walk as a primary form of “getting around” I am definitely in on the Walking Rebellion! Thank you to all who plan to participate. Envisioning all of you out there walking actually makes me feel much less alone as a non-driving adult. There are so many benefits to walking, it’s true. I applaud all of you who will be walking this month!
Walking has changed my life over the years. I am realizing that I have a lot to share about what walking means in my life. I will plan to write posts and notes about walking as I participate in the Walking Rebellion!
Thank you for the encouragement to work walking back into my life. I miss it! During college, I at first got around by bike a lot, and very much enjoyed zooming across the grass, past slower pedestrians and drivers stuck in traffic. But after a while, I felt like I didn’t have enough thinking time, so I decided to walk places until I’d done enough thinking to figure out what kind of trees my friends and I would each be, if we were trees. This took quite a number of walking-journeys worth of thinking, and they were good journeys, thinking about friends, and trees, and a lot of other things. Later on, walking was my favorite way to get to know the new cities and towns where I was living and some of the people in them.
Yes, agreed, walking is the best way to get to know cities :) Peco and I recently wrote a piece about that as well "You are who you meet: a geography of common ground" https://schooloftheunconformed.substack.com/p/you-are-who-you-meet-a-geography
For the past year I've been telling people that "all I do is walk and make pictures," which is true, and it's been the most amazing year of my life. Spending most of this year from March to just yesterday on pilgrimage is an incredible way to live, and this kind of slowing movement through land and life has coincided with more positive change than I've ever experienced before. The best part, I've found, is that walking is transformative for the exact opposite reason people often seem to think it is. They expect some sort of grand revelation every time, or wild creative insight, but in reality most of the time the way God reveals reality to you on a long walk is just through the quiet and simple living of an authentically human life. He doesn't spell stuff out in the sky for me on every pilgrimage, He just leaves bits and pieces for me to find and love along the way which all come together into the occasional great insights and ideas I've found while walking. I find that I feel like something like a saint on pilgrimage, and then I get home to computers and cars and nonsense and traffic and I'm back down to a frustrated, exhausted individual. But someday I'll find a way to soften that jarring transition, and maybe even spend the rest of my life walking like this.
Thanks for sharing Ryan - completely resonnate with your experience here: " He doesn't spell stuff out in the sky for me on every pilgrimage, He just leaves bits and pieces for me to find and love along the way which all come together into the occasional great insights and ideas I've found while walking." Well said!
I'm currently struggling with back-to-back foot injuries that have mostly kept me from walking for the last 3 months, so reading this post felt bittersweet. I had just walked my first full mile after recovering from the first injury and later that same day I incurred my second. But reading this did remind me of all the things I love (and miss) about walking. Once I'm better again, I am looking forward to starting slow and eventually putting more miles behind my feet again.
Emmett, sorry to hear about your injuries and hope that you'll have a swift recovery!
I understand Emmett. I had a time when I had to rest from walking. It was so hard. But I appreciate walking so much more now!
This is wonderful. I’m an anxious wreck if I don’t get out for at least one walk (preferably two walks) a day. It’s been one of the most life-giving, sanity-saving, health-engendering practices I’ve embraced.
Fully agree! You seem to have a lot in common with Dickens who would have "exploded" if he would not have been able to go for his daily walks.
What a wonderful article, which deserves to be shared with my walk-loving friends and family. Many, many thanks.
Happy to hear you enjoyed it and thank you for sharing it with your fellow "walk-loving friends and family"!
100%. The most successful people I know walk - then walk some more - and keep walking - until inspiration strikes.
Shoot, this is inspiring. It sounds exhausting to be a revolutionary, but now I'm certain I lost something valuable when I traded in my walking for driving some years back.
Maybe I can get it back. I thought I had grown up and put away some eccentricity I no longer wished to be marked by when I got a car at thirty-six years old and started to drive like everyone else. And it's true it opened up some opportunities I wouldn't have had access to otherwise.
But something in me has withered away, and though I'm too old to believe in magic solutions or any one cause for this ennui, I recall I used to walk rain or shine to get where I was going, and the moments in between were often more meaningful, and the whole held together a little better, and things were slower and fuller.
Glad that the post prompted some inspiration :) Over the years I have walked less than I used to, but am making deliberate efforts to keep it part of my daily life. It does indeed feel like something withers when we give up our walking feet. Hope you feel encouraged and can find them again!
Oh I missed this, but love the idea! I didn’t have a car till age 30, and then avoided driving (not necessarily a good thing, it was an anxiety response) till my first daughter was born 4 years later. I walked to work in all weathers (much better than road rage!) and when I couldn’t walk/take transit, I found people to carpool with and would make friends that way. In my youth long walks were my opportunity to be alone with my own thoughts.
That changed with kids though: we drive most places now, though in the summer there’s more time to wander. Walking is mostly recreational now and I have to carve time out for it.
We got our first major snowfall lately too, so from where I set now it’s not immediately obvious to me how I would make walking a regular part of my routine. You make a good argument for it though, so now I’m wondering.
I’m in! I walk every day but I will try it without my phone (but I love my audio books!) it will be a great experiment.