WALK NOW OR WALK IN THE DARK

Negotiating time with the setting sun and an impending afternoon thunderstorm… I sit with my beloved companion, my MacBook lovingly called Leona, and perform tasks that qualify as both work and play, while the clock hands spin madly on in their own time.

It is an oh-so-familiar dance. My love of writing dueling with my need to be moving. Not an easy sport to referee. And again, the time has arrived.

Walk now or walk in the dark.

And eventually, I do break free from my entangling desk and, shortly thereafter, the mind that follows it around.

Much of the first few moments of moving my legs unrestrained, I am still wholly working on tasks I was engaged in only minutes prior. And I will admit, occasionally I get surprisingly far into my walk before I realize I am still mentally sitting at my desk. I always catch myself, but sometimes it takes a genuine minute. Today it came with a victorious, out-loud declaration… Gotcha! “Oh yeah, I am here now!” For I desperately try not to succumb to distraction as I walk among the miracles and delights lining my path. My walks deserve… no, require… presence and observation, and an expanded awareness of my environment and the effects of my energy within it.

Soon the sounds and sights, the smells and captivating magic of nature win me over. I look down deep into the valley between the tall trees, amidst clusters of vibrant green things of this and that, and remember…

I am grateful.
I am in the perfect place at the perfect time.
I am here, now.
This is all that matters.
This is real life.
This is real life happening before my very eyes.
This is earth, unfiltered.
And it is wild.

For these are no mere accidental walks. This is the foundation upon which I build my day and every minute it encompasses. And while battling the temptations of willy-nilly distractions and divine procrastination, somehow everything important gets finished right on time. Divine timing indeed.

My calendar is inspired less by control and more by intention.

I set the very latest time by which I must walk out the door, fully dressed, accoutrements tucked safely in pockets, boots tied on. I never allow less than two hours for this sacred daily discipline, as you never know where in the enchanted forest you may be led. And no matter what ever-so-important task is happening at that moment, it must wait until some other time.

For I am on the most important mission of the day…

A walk in the WildWood.