A walk doesn't have to be a long and arduous undertaking. It's not like jogging or "exercise" specifically, though some people think of it that way. It's simpler than that, and smaller. It's getting some fresh air. It's stretching the legs. It's moving the body and opening the mind to things beyond technology. It's a return to nature, even in the midst of the city. There are always trees, or flower boxes, and the sky. Fifteen minutes in the presence of the sky can change the quailty of any day.
Being outdoors is our natural state, and it is abandoned too readily for temperature controlled spaces and interior walls. We lose our perspective indoors. We foget who we are and our spirit shrinks. We miss something vital and healing and inspiring and glorious. We miss the weather and outdoor smells and the changing energy of the air. Those who work outdoors are connected to the earth and the weather in a way that most of us miss, and blessed though they may not know it to feel the subtlities of clouds and breezes, heat, and freezing cold sharp on their cheeks. But the rest of us can take walks. We have access to sidewalks and paths in the woods and fields and roads. On any day, in crisp winter as much as the heat, it's available to us. We need only answer our soul's call to get out and get moving, to propell ourself through nature and enjoy the sights and sounds and breathing the fresh air and the rhythm of our footsteps.
I will make time for a walk outside today, even if it's only for a few minutes. It opens my mind and restores my soul, and reminds me of who I am.
