I made a promise to myself to be more active, and one of the ways I do this is by taking brisk walks. Once upon a time I tried running, but I realized I hated it so I reverted back to walking. If I can pull it off, I try to get in at least one 5K powerwalk every week.
I charge up my phone, set up my “MapMyRun” app, load up a new podcast, and go. I think what I like most about my powerwalk is (a) simply being outdoors (b) the opportunity to listen to a good show and learn something new. But this process is all business. I don’t actually think much about it anymore. I don’t think about my route, what I’m wearing, or how much I’m sweating. I am a machine made out of skin and bone! This might sound like I don’t enjoy my power walks but they are strangely devoid of joy. Does that make sense? I like my power walks well enough – I certainly don’t hate them – but I don’t get the same feeling I do when I’m coasting down a hill on my bike. You know, the sensation of the wind in your hair as the landscape races by. (The only way I could possibly improve upon that feeling is if I had a baseball card in my spokes and streamers flying out from the ends of my handlebars.)
Today I was inspired to veer off my walking route and take a peek at Maplelawn Garden, which is a walled garden right next to Keg Manor on Richmond Road in Westboro. At first I was going to give it a pass, after all, I had things to do! A list to whittle down! Calls to make! Emails to write!
Little did I know that one of my favourite quiet spaces in Westboro was about to take my breath away. It is wall-to-wall flowers there right now. I sniffed them, admired them, pet them, and wandered amid the kind of beauty that we just don’t see every day. It’s the kind of place that calls out to you, and then says, hey, it’s ok to linger here. Let’s enjoy this while we have it.
You see, I have a to-do list a mile long and I’m haven’t been handling it very well. But while I stood there, the stress that had been building up behind my eyeballs suddenly dropped away. I remembered to breathe deeply and let this fleeting beauty fill me up, and maybe even tide me over for a bit.
(Big news coming your way soon. Stay tuned.)
