We are so addicted to novelty
But what we need is to review our thoughts. To pay attention to what we pay attention to especially the thoughts we just entertained but never went back to.
Walking allows us to shut down novelty. When there is no novelty, you are left with what’s old.
- For example, if you don’t have access to a new book but love to read, chances are you are going to read the same book over again.
- Walking exposes us to nature, which has almost unchanging (or slow-changing) parts.
The monotony of walking allows you to practice mindfulness and just be.
References
Gros, F. (2014). A Philosophy of Walking. Verso.
And that is exactly what we are looking for: something new. But what we didn’t yet know is exactly what we forget immediately. Because as soon as we know it, we have to leave room for what we don’t yet know, which will come tomorrow.
Being in the presence of what absolutely endures detaches us from that ephemeral news for which we are usually agog. After walking far and long, you can even come to wonder in surprise how you could ever have been interested in it. The slow respiration of things makes everyday huffing and puffing appear vain, unhealthy agitation.
You are facing a mountain, walking among great trees, and you think: they are just there. They are there, they didn’t expect me, they were always there. They were there long before me and they will still be there long after me.
But having nothing to do but walk makes it possible to recover the pure sensation of being, to rediscover the simple joy of existing
Once caught in the rhythm, Thoreau says, you are on the treadmill: you want to know what comes next. The real challenge, though, is not to know what has changed, but to get closer to what remains eternally new.