I've been out walking

I've been walking a lot these days. For a long time, I didn't walk much. Maybe it was because I would feel so fatigued. Or because it seemed so slow and I had places to go. Or because I felt embarrassed.

Whatever the reason, these days, I've been walking more.  Walking is a joy especially when I can get beyond thinking about how many calories I'm burning or worrying about wearing the right shoes or that I'm doing it in the hope I'll lose weight or how many steps I've taken.

I've done some of my best thinking while walking. I write poetry in my head. Sometimes, walking becomes meditation. I'd like to start walking all the way home from work once in a while. I found a route via Google Maps that would take me through a park and along tree lined streets.

Sometimes, it is tedious. I look at the hill I climb to get to work and think I can't do it. Sometimes, I can't take the smell of concrete dust and the funny lighting under the Convention Center first thing in the morning.  

Walking reminds me that I'm living at a different pace and rhythm now. This time of year, I notice the change in the air, the lengthening of the days, the buds on the trees. The other morning, I received a sweet nose nuzzle on my hand from a passing dog out for a walk with its human.  If I am early enough in the morning, I pass by taxi drivers getting out their prayer rugs and kneeling to pray. I pray my own prayers with them as I pass by. I took a writing class one summer and we spent the first half of class walking and thinking about the theme the instructor suggested and writing down the things we noticed on the walk. It was a great class.

So, I'm out there walking, thinking, listening. There is strength, peace, and healing in the sound of my footsteps, in my breathing, in my pulse and heart beat. My heart has feet.