Walking
Walking is one of the most therapeutic things I have encountered. It is the same reason I love being outdoors, hiking, climbing, or playing sports. I enter this trance in which I am not thinking about the past or future. I am completely in the present. The feeling I had when I was a child. This might be the reason why I don’t mind hard labor at all. Shoveling the driveway when it snows in New York isn’t so bad when I get time to myself. All thoughts are one dig after the next. Time feels lengthened and the thoughts are pristine.
Now imagine today where everything people do is supplemented by phone, internet, and computer usage. These technologies are incredibly distracting. They disrupt and confuse the brain’s thought processes. Gone are the days where people had long, beautiful elegant thoughts. The minute the brain doesn’t encounter something easy or interesting it reverts to these positive reinforcements like checking Facebook for notifications.
Walking (or whatever the choice of getting away from technology) seems to clear the mind. By clear, I mean it allows people to focus on one singular thought as opposed to jumping back and forth between many different ones. Not only is this process more productive in terms of the time and efficiency of dealing with problems but it is far more creative.
The main principle is well captured in meditation and yoga. Focus, only on the present and don’t let your mind get distracted by other things. Beautiful things start happening when one can achieve this state. In the future, the creatives, artists, writers, etc. will become extremely valuable for as technology pervades into our daily lives more, the important commodity will be well structured, creative, and focused ideas.
One of my goals for this semester (hopefully for life) is to spend one day per week away from the computer and phone as much as possible. I’ve had about a 50% success rate thus far. These days (usually Saturdays) are when I take the opportunity to engage in some physical activity or in a creative process. I usually accomplish an incredible amount. Incredible being a relative standard to the other six days.
Walking is a simple act only requiring oneself, nothing else. The fundamental benefit is getting away from distraction and being able to focus. This has perpetual rewards.
