Sunday evening. The rain has passed; the clouds linger. I’m out on a wisdom walk letting my feet meet the earth and my thoughts catch up with my breath.
The day began scattered. Too many moving parts: the sale of the old truck and the logistics of the new one—registrations, license plates, and tax. My house, in a state of lived-in chaos, mirrored my mind. Inner clutter. Outer clutter. Echoes of each other.
When I’m in that state, one thing that helps me is getting physical. Doing something with my body gives my mind a break from itself. So I turned to the shed. It needed sorting, and I needed centring. By midday, we were in a rhythm. Lifting, moving, organising. A kind of shed-zen. It brought me back into my body, and with it came a clearer mind.
Now I’m walking and reflecting. I didn’t want to end the day sitting. Movement sharpens insight. This is something I’ve been returning to all week: the connection between walking and thinking. Between motion and meaning.
This week’s theme has been philosophy as a way of life. Pierre Hadot has been my guide, reminding me that philosophy isn’t meant to be confined to the lecture hall. It’s meant to be walked, spoken, and lived. Rebecca Solnit’s Wanderlust added fuel to the fire, tracing the long lineage of thinkers who took their thoughts on foot. From Socrates to Rousseau, Nietzsche to Thoreau. Philosophy has often worn out the soles of its shoes.
For me, this is it. Reading, reflecting, walking, writing, talking, and sharing. That’s the core of my game. Everything else can orbit that.
The insight that lands tonight is simple. Do the thing. Don’t just think about it. Don’t just map it endlessly. Embody it.
Walk the walk. Talk the talk. Play my game. Let the rest go.
As the Stoics remind us, what others think, say, or do is none of our business. Our business is what lies within our control. What lies within my control is showing up fully, soulfully, and doing the work that calls me.
So here I am. Out walking beneath a soft sky. Speaking my reflections into the air.
This is the practice. This is the way.
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