This medicine has been stolen from us, co opted, removed from our realm of knowing. We walk for exercise, we walk for health, we walk with purpose. But we use wheels for transportation. The world is too big to travel on foot. Everything is so far away and there are no bathrooms en route. So we hop in the car again and isolate ourselves from the world. We fall into believing that the measure of happiness and health is a corporate measure (we consume things, we medicate, we heal with the latest craze or health food, we believe that we will be happy when... when our teeth are shiny and white?). But the measure of happiness and health is found in our souls and our soles. Our bodies can thrive simply by being given the opportunity to walk and be out doors. Simply to move at our natural pace and be our native selves.
I'm struggling these days. Life has tossed me a very heavy weight to carry. I don't want to tell the story here. It is painful. I'll tell it some day when I am less raw. But I what I will tell you is that I can find relief and sanity when I walk. Knowing what to do next comes to me. I can deal with the latest crisis that lands in my lap, and then go to my room and cry and weep and call a friend. Walking is my solace and connection to the divine. I hear the voice of reason when I am putting one foot in front of the other.
