Another Way to Walk
Timothy Egan came to give a nice talk to promote a new library being built in our town. If you don’t know him he is a prolific author of a wide range of non-fiction books. Among them is a book about walking from Canterbury in England along the many pilgrimage paths throughout England and Western Europe leading to Rome. His descriptions and reaction to extended walking experiences got my attention.
One of the comments Mr. Egan made during his talk was his reference to ‘deep walking’… That phrase really struck a chord with me. Deep walking is a concept I have experienced too. While walking with my partners and by myself on the PCT over the years deep walking has been a profound part of those experiences.
When I walk with my long time hiking partners Jim and Rees we definitely experience ‘deep walking’. For us that is time for meaningful conversations, hearty laughter, and opportunity for self reflection. We admire our surroundings. We celebrate being together. We each live far apart so when we get together it is important and highly valued. The times we are together fuel us up and inspire long term and short term goals that we can take back home. Our time is informative in how it tests and clarifies the values we hold and share with one another.
The times I have walked by myself I have also done some ‘deep walking’. Walking alone has put me in a walking meditation mode. With just me, myself, and I there is time to consider all sorts of things some quite important and some terribly mundane. All absorbing in their own way without interfering with the overall experience of being in nature. I have to admit that when I experienced ‘deep walking’ on my own it was a profound experience. What I had anticipated with a fair degree of hesitation and fear transformed into something more than simply walking. As the days passed being alone I found ‘deep walking’ to be my friend.
If you have not felt as though you have had a ‘deep walking’ experience I encourage you to do so. In my mind there is no specific recipe or plan of action. It is a little like finding love; you’ll know it when it occurs. Thanks to Timothy Egan for the reminder.
HS
