The Frustrated Flaneur

I broke my damn foot. It’s not bad, just a stress fracture. The doc does not even want a boot on it, but he wants me to stay off my feet. This is hard for me because walking is a vital magical practice.

You guys know that I am a meditation pusher and I definitely think that two sessions of cushion time a day will do almost anyone a load of good, but I am also a big believer in idle time and walking. See, in meditation you are disciplining the mind. Thoughts arise and you let them go without attachment, returning to the focus of the meditation. Idle time is different. You engage the body in something it doesn’t need to think much about (like walking or repetitive labor) and let the mind do what it wants. Just like long walks used to be built into everyone’s life before cars, idle time was built into everyone’s life before smartphones. In 1999 I had brilliant idea for a magical practice while standing in line for my Irish Cream Latte – today I would probably be checking my e-mail or facebook instead.

Meditation clears the mind, and the side-effect is that deeper and more profound insights become available. Deliberate Idle Time gives those thoughts space to be engaged and explored.

So I walk every day at least twice a day. I usually do once on the treadmill and once outdoors in a scenic place because I  buy into the idea that places have spirit and that spending time in the woods or walking along the beach has benefits. When I lived in the city I loved walking the neighborhood aimlessly, but strolling around suburban developments is not only less interesting but makes your neighbors wonder what you drivers licence was suspended for. Whether the city or the wilderness a proper spiritual stroll makes you “secretly attuned to the history of where you walk”*. 

Walking rejuvenates the brain, taps you into the environment, excites the limbic system, restores the soul, and improves overal health. Sadly, I am writing a post about walking because I broke my foot. If I can get even one of you to go and take some smartphone-free spiritual strolling though it will have been worth it.

*Edmund White, The Flaneur