Taking a Stroll

My last blog entry got me thinking on deeper levels about the ways we get around. Each example I chose involved an external mechanism or technology to assist in the locomotion, either actual or virtual. Unfortunately I left out the most basic, inherent form of travel. Something we have done long before cities were risen and civilizations took form. Something that excited our parents when we were toddlers, leaving some frantic to capture the first moment on picture or film. Something we typically do with purpose, but occasionally do for pleasure: walking, or taking a stroll.

I'm choosing not to focus on the purpose-driven form, which for this exercise I will call "walking". Instead, I wish to speak on the pleasure-driven form: "taking a stroll". The difference between the two being what mindset initiates the activity. Walking encompasses such things as: _to the car, _to the pharmacy, _to the office from the car, _to the (pick any consumer retail outlet). During these moments we simply move to a new location using some of our most basic musculoskeletal abilities, with a set destination and purpose in mind.

What does it mean to take a stroll? To the subject it can mean any number of non-mutually exclusive things: enjoy the pleasant summer evening, explore new streets and neighborhoods, clear the mind or churn mind-stuff around in the mind. There is still a purpose here, but unlike "walking", the activity becomes the destination and not just the means to the destination.

What is so pleasurable about walking for pleasure? Perhaps, it is that we are taking an action, unceremoniously performed a countless number of times every day for the basic needs of function and survival, and using it to escape, or simply unwind. In this way it becomes a microcosm for stepping out of the routine and freeing ourselves with simple pleasures.

Let's hit it from a different angle. It feels joyous to simply announce to yourself, or others, that you are about to embark on an activity for the pleasure of that activity. This certainly is not exclusive to taking a stroll. "Let's get coffee.", "Let's pick up a 12-pack and some hot-dogs and hit the park.", "Let's ....", ah well, you get the point.

I touched on some broad reaching and easy-to-relate-to examples, but here is what I feel has the most relevance and value to taking a stroll: the meditative side of it. One foot shifts past the other and arms swing peacefully at the side. The spine is erect and the body relaxed. We breathe, inhaling fresh air into our lungs. A light breeze brushes the cheek. We glance around at nearby objects or fixate on those in the distance. The horizon becomes a vector that we understand is unreachable, but is always drawing us toward it. We are going somewhere without specific purpose and realize that there can be beauty in this way of approaching the world.

The current state of existence in which most of us live is inundated with the flash and glimmer of distractions. It is remarkably easy to be pulled around in all directions. The stimuli offered to us by the technological megabeast of digital interconnectivity is always there and calling out to us. Meditative ways of living are becoming scarce. The stroll may be one of the last options we have for entering this more peaceful way of thinking. Just be sure to leave your smartphone at the house.