Monday’s Quote: from a history of walking
The following quote leads me to wonder if instead of asking you if you have gone for a walk lately, could I also ask, have you thought lately?
The rhythm of walking generates a kind of rhythm of thinking, and the passage through a landscape echoes or stimulates the passage through a series of thoughts. This creates an odd consonance between internal and external passage, one that suggests that the mind is also a landscape of sorts and that walking is one way to traverse it.” –Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking
A book I look forward to reading.
Another observation Solnit points out,
Many people live in a series of interiors (fragments) – home, car, gym, office, shops – disconnected from each other, moving between spaces in cars. Walking enables everything to stay connected, for while walking one occupies the spaces between those interiors in the same way one occupies those interiors.“
Precisely why designing city streets first and foremost as places increases active transportation, which then reduces subsidies needed for automobile use, creates interconnected communities and frees more public space to be used for enjoying life.
And, stimulates the minds of the people fortunate to live a place that values the real purpose of a city over the convenient movement of automobiles.
Are you walking/thinking today?
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So true! I definitely find that when I walk, my mind is free to wander as well. Biking happens at too quick a clip, and walking with a dog (as I usually am these days) often comes with too many distractions for a continuous flow of thoughts. But I love a good thinking walk when I can get one! I lived for a while in northern Virginia and fondly remember lunch-break walks in the wooded park behind the office and the days when I walked instead of biked to work. Such a perfect way to get inspired and balanced before sitting down at the computer. Come to think of it, I walked to school from kindergarten through high school, too, and I’m sure I was a better student for it. Here in TC, I work at home and my walk to the “office” is across the hall. Although I get outside for dog walks morning and evening, I do miss that solitary thinking-walking time.
Thank you for the contribution Kate. I also mostly work at home I think I might start walking around the ‘hood before starting.
I had just under a mile walk to the bus stop in school-my grades didn’t reflect any advantage, but I can day dream with the best of them.