“Nana, let’s go for a walk!” Ian was tired of being penned up inside while his older brother worked in our yard.
“Of course!” I tell him. Squirrels scamper, cardinals cheer. Even though the sky is misty gray, the earth looks and sounds alive.
Eleven year olds don’t usually walk the chalk line. They like to meander down a sidewalk or pathway, often walking crooked.
Walking, Crooked or Straight
Julia Cameron, author of more than forty books, extols the virtues of walking in one of her books on creativity, Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance
Tips to Carry from her Book
- “Walking starts the writing engine humming . . . Without shame or scolding, walking puts a gentle end to self-involvement. Almost without noticing it, we become engaged with a world larger than ourselves and our concerns.”
- “Walking is a problem-solving tool. A footfall at a time, problems are solved by walking. St. Augustine referred to solving problems by walking as ‘Solvitur ambulando.’”
- “Walking has a way of drawing pain to scale. Walking has made [my] dreams feel” more real.
- It is impossible to walk rapidly and be unhappy, quoting Mother Teresa.
Believing Mirrors – Do You Shine?
- “Believing mirrors” are optimistic, caring believers in the essential goodness of life. . . . They reflect back to you your competency and potential. They are on your side and bring to your discussions a sense of optimism and hope.”
- “A good friend can be like a radar dish — suddenly we are scooping all sorts of signals where before there were none.”
- “They can be softhearted but also hardheaded . . . rough-minded without being nasty. They must “have a clean, clear surface that allows them to mirror back without distortion what they are asked to reflect upon.” They need not be writers, but they must have your best interests at heart.
As water reflects the face, so one’s face, so one’s life reflects the heart. ~ Prov. 27:19 NIV
The Bright Side View, more quotes from Cameron
- Give yourself credit! “Focused on what we ‘should’ do and what we haven’t done yet, we often turn a blind eye to our own ongoing accomplishments. It is a rare day that passes without our having done something right.”
- Focus on the DONE pile as much as the NOT Done Pile!
- “It takes vigilance to keep from gilding the past. Each day I must find something to love in the day at hand.”
Lesson from the Funicular Railway
Funicular Rail, Salzburg Austria 2006
The climb from ground level to mountaintop is
STEEP
SLOW
But it eventually gets there!
(Coming next: Confession of a Cone Head)
* * *
Do you like walking?
What tips can you add to Julia Cameron’s list?
Do you believe with Mother Theresa that “It is impossible to walk rapidly and be unhappy”?
Do you have a believing mirror?
Good morning, Marian! I like walking, and when I walk alone outside, I often get or work out ideas.
How lovely that your grandsons want to be with you and ask you to take a walk! I’m sure you cherish those times.
I think people can often walk rapidly and not be happy–for example, they’re stressed and hurrying to catch a bus or plane, so, I disagree. But if you set out to take a walk for pleasure, and to relieve stress, then that is different. You can tell I don’t see things in black and white, and I’m not a fan of absolutes. 🙂
Mother Theresa’s quote gave me cause for pause because I see exceptions as you pointed out. I included it here because I thought it would stir the pot, so to speak. As you can tell, others spotted the fallacies in her dictum.
My older grandsons don’t ask me to walk with them anymore. That’s one difference between an eleven-year-old and a fifteen-year-old. I jump at the chance to do things with grandkids. Later, they choose their own paths, preferring friends to Nana.
I’ve been re-reading Finding Water the past couple of weeks. There’s so much wisdom in that book…love it! Yes, I agree with Mother Theresa. Just yesterday, I was walking really fast on my treadmill and I had an idea for a novella…that made me very happy.
How serendipitous, our reading Finding Water at nearly the same time, Jill. Walking fast increases our blood circulation and helps us think better; I’m glad your treading produced an idea for a novella – wow!
I have always loved walking as a means to unwind and keep fit and it does seem to clear the mind too. I live many adventures in my head whilst I am walking and I am lucky enough to have a dog and walk him twice a day. As a young girl, I walked all over town, alone or with friends and family, and that pleasure has stayed with me all my life.
I love some of those quotes too, especially the one about a friend being like a radar and the face reflecting your heart. I would go further and say that your eyes are a mirror to your soul. 😉
I’m glad you have a doggie to accompany you on your walks. Your travel lifestyle certainly contributes to good health and well being. Yes, I agree, one’s eyes are a mirror to the soul.” Thanks, Fatima!
Marian — I love walking with our big dog, Willa. We get in approximately six miles per day: two miles in the early morning, two miles at noon, and two miles in the evening.
I admire your walking habit, and certainly big Willa does too. What a nice companion on your miles. My steps mount up on my Fitbit, but my miles don’t rival yours. Yes, I know, it’s not a competition, except when we compete with ourselves. Thanks for goading us on, Laurie.
Julia Cameron’s book “The Artist’s Way” broke open the writer in me. I still do morning pages. (The artist date – much harder to maintain that.) I read “Finding Water” and found that I ended up feeling a little depressed by it, in a weird way. Maybe I was reading it at the wrong time of my life.
I have become a Julia Cameron junkie, in a way. I read her The Artist’s Way years ago and of late I’ve gotten hooked on her other genres: a novel Mozart’s Ghost, and another spiritual book, Faith and Will. Soon I’ll start on her memoir Floor Sample. I guess it’s the right time for Ms. Cameron in my life. Thanks for sharing, Arlene!
I’ve never read the ones you mentioned. I will give them a try.
😀
I added the book to my wish list. Sounds good!
Love the photos of Ian and the explanation about how eleven year olds walk. I’m writing a book about a boy like Ian, so this is good information!
I enjoy a good walk, especially in a place with trees.
Love the idea of a believing mirror. I have friends like that. 😀
Boys Ian’s age like to go zig zaggy too, unless they are walking on top of a skinny wall or fence. I’m glad you have friendly believing mirrors. Writers, especially, need friends like that. Great, L. Marie!
Walking, especially with my dog, is a great stress reliever and I often get ideas when we are out walking. Walking with grandchildren is always a treat.
Walking with a companion, pet or child, makes the miles go faster. When I walk with a friend, I’m less conscious of the distance, a good thing. Thanks, Darlene!
Walking in the woods surrounding our house clears my head, and my lungs! Love your blogs, Marian!
Thanks, Jack, you are such a trusty reader here. Lungs filled with fresh air ~ no better feeling. 😀
I love walking too. My favorite form of exercise. Also Thoreau’s and William and Dorothy Wordsworth’s favorite. Walking is not magic, however. It can lift clouds higher, especially in beautiful weather, but it may not remove them. I guess I agree with Merrill that it isn’t an absolute. I hope to get in 10,000 steps today and will think of you.
Shirley, you will double my step count today, but who’s counting! Thanks for beaming good thoughts toward me on your walk. 🙂
Walking has always been a time of “moving meditation” for me. Just before sunrise is my favorite time. Back when I trained racehorses, the daily hand-walking was tedious but brought so much joy.
Other writers have picked up on your idea of walking as moving meditation. Thanks for sharing this nugget and for letting us know about your walking habit, Thanks for mentioned training racehorses too, something I didn’t know about you. 🙂
I too love walking, and the Mother Theresa quote, though I do think it’s quite possible to walk fast and be angry. Walking in winter up here in Vermont is called snowshoeing and woody and try and get out in it as often as possible, certainly a few times a week. I’m curious to hear more on your walk with your grandson.
Certainly I’ve gone sledding and skiing in the snow, but never snowshoeing, which sounds like a bracing exercise, safe too.
Ian had a hidden agenda, it seems. We ended up walking as far as my daughter’s house where he could visit with his cousins. Thanks, Janet!
I love walking. The more life troubles me, the more I walk. The combination of surgery a month ago and blasts of bitter arctic air made my walks less comfortable and less frequent. Still, I walk when the wind calms down, often on packed snowmobile trails in the National Forest rather than on my own trails. With others, I see walking as a moving meditation. I also see it as participating in nature’s miracles and mysteries. And I stop (when it isn’t bitter cold) to inspect nature’s delicate gifts and mysteries.
When I struggle to articulate something that’s under the surface, walking helps my writing. And it helps my body, too. Yesterday because of cold, I used the indoor rowing machine bought many years ago. It made my pulse rise and I got some exercise, but it simply isn’t the same as being outside and wandering in that crooked way. Thanks for all the wonderful quotes and images. I haven’t read this book by Julia Cameron. I put it on my list which grows longer. I hope after audio goes on in my cochlear implant, I’ll be able to listen to books on CD and mix literature and hearing therapy.
Your readers on social media enjoy your snapshots and meditations. I catch all four seasons this way.
Seriously, I’ve not heard of indoor rowing machines, which sounds like a wonderful way to stirr up the circulation when you can’t get outdoors.
This morning I left a comment (with link) on your blog about listening to an audio, but now I remember than your Doc will turn on the audio when the time is right. I’m glad you enjoy the National Forest Trails. I believe the Finger Lakes is an ideal place for you, especially now. Thanks for all this, Elaine!
I’ve composed many a Haiku while walking and had countless ideas for stories and blog posts. Unfortunately, the winters here in Manitoba are ruthless and the sidewalks icy and I haven’t been walking much except to the mailbox and back. I can’t wait for spring so I can walk again. Seniors walk crooked too. Does that mean we’re getting younger? I wish!
Can you see me smile? Yesterday I was introduced to another of Dr. Seuss’s books entitled You’re Only Old Once. I’ve also heard that everything old is young again. (Or maybe new again.)
I’m looking forward to a walk-able spring again for you. Thanks, Elfrieda! 🙂
i especially love my early morning walks in spring, just after the sun has blessed the sky. The music of birds fills the air and I become more fully awake and thankful than I am at any other time.
Very descriptive, Joan. Sleep reorganizes the cluttered files in our minds. Maybe that’s why you and I feel refreshed in the morning. Then walking puts our brains in gear. I imagine Virginia is coming alive this time of year with blooms and more sunshine. 🙂
A walk in the woods or with a grandson is food for the soul. I have worked out many an issue or come up creative ideas just by being outside. Love the quotes, too. Can’t wait for this dreadful snow and bitter cold to give way to sunny, warm days!
Food for the soul is a great way to describe walking, Kathy. You know what Annie says about the sun: The sun will come out tomorrow . . . . tomorrow there’ll be sun! (Maybe!)
Again, I love your sunny profile photo. I’m working on getting mine done this month. 🙂
“Focus on the DONE pile as much as the NOT Done Pile!” — I love this! Thanks!
I enjoy long outdoor walks, especially with our big dog, Baby. Can I walk fast and not be happy? Yes, definitely. But by the end of a long fast walk when I am angry or upset — what I call my “mad stomp” — I always feel better. Endorphins, you know. 😀
Thanks for picking out this quote, Linda Lee. I am quick to check off items on the to-do list and then move on lickety-split. There’s an art to pausing to celebrate small gains, and need to work on that!
Endorphins are the reward for walking, fast or slow. Thanks too for that reminder. 🙂
I walk like a child or so my son tells me when he walks with me he always comments ” Mum can’t you walk in a straight line”…Walking is my passion sometimes faster, sometimes slower…If I am walking to market it is faster because I want to get there and then I wander take in the sights, sounds and the smells but on the way back I can amble, think, stop, watch and listen to the sounds of life that is when ideas creep in or out…haha…Walking with Lily is a whole new ball game she chats, stops and asks…so many questions but I see so much more through a childs eyes and what imaginations they have…Walking teaches us so much and opens so many windows,so much of life that we wouldn’t see or hear if we wizzed past in a car…I am rambling I know…Time to walk…haha…Enjoy your day, Marian 🙂 xx
I am enjoying your rambling as you amble after marketing or adjust your walking with your son, with Lily and all alone.
Thanks for sharing all this, Carol, including your son’s remark about not walking a straight line. Who cares: Ha!
I love walking Marian, the best form of exercise in my view. I don’t approach it only as exercise- I love being outside, stretching my limbs and getting out of my head after too much sitting. Whether alone or with another, walking is wonderful!
“Getting out of my head after too much sitting” nails it for me. As you may guess, I spend a lot of time in solitude at my computer. Walking outside I am surrounded by twittering birds, scampering squirrels and women taking their grandchildren or dogs for a walk. Sometimes we chat. 🙂
Thank you, Susan.
Yesterday was a busy day, my husband’s birthday, but I got in an hour of exercise, according to the app on my phone. Loving that–it’s just new and I chuckled to see that it thought I actually did a bike ride as well, in one segment I was jogging in place waiting for a walk light in downtown Harrisonburg, at an extremely long light and it was very cold. I credit my mother with giving me my love of walking here later in life. She began walking to the woods on their farm when she was determined to keep her cholesterol down and knew that exercise helped but it became a balm for her: when her husband’s health went south and they sought solutions at Mayo Clinic and I won’t here share the other difficulties. She walked for sanity, to pray, to sort out her thoughts. And P.S., love the photo of your grandson! I always thought it is the preschooler and toddler than meanders most–crouching to examine ants, etc.
You have inherited your mother’s pluck and determination. I like that you like her walk for sanity, to pray, and sort out your thoughts. I do too, and sometimes the exercise feels effortless. Other times, not so much.
Phone apps are good goads. Cliff has one too. My Fitbit helps me by giving me a goal of 5000 steps to work for. By most standards, that’s a modest goal; the AMA recommends 10,000 steps a day – not a reasonable number for me.
Thanks for chiming in here, Melodie. 🙂
My best writing days begin or at least include a nice long walk. In my writing class exercises I introduce students to Brenda Ueland (have you heard of her?). She was one of the forerunners of encouraging writers to not THINK so much, but to let loose with their pen. AND, she said walking was a necessary part of writing. (If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit) “So you see, imagination needs moodling – long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering.”
Yes, I have heard of Brenda Ueland, but have not read any of her recently. I do agree about the walking bit. When I start walking (or, even take a bath … right brained stuff) I feel juices from a different source flowing.
If I had had you as a writing teacher, I may have begun my second career sooner. Anyway, thanks for your support in the HERE and NOW, Pam!
Ohhh, we’d have such a good time ‘egging’ each other on in a writing class, Marian. Well, we have our blog posts to do that! xo
I just read your “dinner party” post. You know how to tell a true tale and end with chocolate, my favorite. Maybe someday I will venture into creating a ballad or other story verse. Thanks, Pam!
I agree, walking is therapeutic with some good solitude to get the creative juices flowing. 🙂
After a long vacation, you may welcome some solitude. Still, how wonderful you can travel with hubby and enjoy the sun and sands of Mexico. Thanks, Debby!
🙂
I am a great believer in walking , it cures almost anything . Whether it’s a walk alone or with others it really doesn’t matter . The fact is what ever negative thoughts or feeling you went with , when you come back all disbursed. The positive factors are second to one .
Julia Cameron? Amzing or what . I haven’t read that particular book but it’s on my list .
Cherryx
Walking as Disbursal of Negative, that’s a great, good title, Cherry. And you thought of it! I haven’t walked today yet (9:12 EST) but it’s on my list.
Julia Cameron is amazing. She written scores of books but struggled with alcoholism, yet has stayed in recovery for decades. That’s one reason why she’s SO inspiring.
Here’s to WALKING, Cherry, and pleasant thoughts! 🙂
I really enjoy walking. Not necessarily for exercise, which is a great bonus of it, but to clear my mind, take in my surroundings, and explore new areas, whether they are urban or in nature. New perspectives are born from it!
“It is a rare day that passes without our having done something right.” Great quote, Marian. If only we could repeat this phrase to ourselves every evening, we (or I) should certainly feel better. So many days, I feel like I’m running around like a chicken without a head, certainly achieving small things, but not realizing that even the most benign accomplishments put us ahead of the game. 🙂
Long ago, I identified you as an A-personality, an over-achiever. I can identify with that quandary. But reading this book gave me a different perspective, adjusted my balance … a little bit!
Here’s to more adventures and the good sense to enjoy them. Thanks, Liesbet!
You have a way of waking up my mind to new and interesting subjects! Walking is good exercise and it’s good for the soul! When I’m under mental stress and strain, weather permitting, I go for a walk. My eyes and ears, and my mind are all opened up! It’s a whole new subject I could write about! Thanks, Marian,
Walking clears the mind, and helps keep our body fit. Also, a good stress reliever. Yes, I would read about your walking adventures, Anita. That would make a good diary entry or a great blog topic. 🙂