Walking & Wandering

thoughts on pattern interruption

We should take wandering outdoor walks, so that the mind might be nourished and refreshed by the open air and deep breathing. −Seneca, On Tranquility of Mind, 17.8

This Seneca quote is part of the daily meditation for June 21st from The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman. Stoic wisdom is perfect for our harried and often confusing modern lives.

Walking (especially in nature) and sleeping are two of the healthiest and most cost-effective (free!) ways to keep the mind sharp, enhance blood flow, and keep the body and spirit well-tuned. Seneca and the Stoics were on to something. 

I walk multiple times a day (it helps that I have a dog), but I’ve been neglecting the wandering component—I walk as if it’s a task with an end goal to complete. And, it is a task to complete. I have to empty the dog (as my friend, Andrew, says), but once that job is done, I miss out on the ambling that’s characteristic of a mind-clearing and refreshing walk.

Pattern Interrupt

Like anything else in life, we need to bust up our patterns to allow new ideas and inspiration to come in and to rewire our brains to make new neural pathways. When I walk the same well-worn path, I stop seeing things. The little delights that are present, like wild chamomile pushing up through the cracks in the sidewalk or early autumn’s first tiny mushroom, go unnoticed when I’m on autopilot.

So, I’m committing to taking new routes and exploring more of my neighborhood, with eyes and ears open (no music or podcasts) to whatever is there. I want to learn to see with greater depth and allow that sense of discovery to come in. 

Discovery isn’t just for the domain of travel. 

Discovery is a vital for greater self-knowledge and it helps us relate to one another in meaningful ways. Why do we stop approaching things, life, with curiosity once we leave childhood behind? I know, adult responsibilities and all that, but I still don’t find that a valid reason to become numb to all that’s around us. Especially now, when walking around our neighborhoods might be the only outside-the-home activities we engage in—well, that and grocery shopping (break up patterns there, too!). 

What if you could approach your life and your neighborhood as if it were a foreign land? What would you discover? If you give it a try, let me know what happens!

Here are a few books about walking to inspire you:

• Wanderlust: A History of Walking by Rebecca Solnit

• A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson

• Flâneur: The Art of Wandering the Streets of Paris by Federico Castigliano

(This article is based on one I wrote in 2017. This version is new & improved!)

—> If you enjoy life: examined you can let me know via buy me a coffee (look at that fancy coffee up there). Thank you for your support—it keeps me caffeinated & writing!