Walking

Back in January 2015 when I realised I was ill, and consequently started a course of antidepressants, many people encouraged me to exercise. I had been a keen cyclist and they encouraged me to keep at it and get out on my bike as much as I could. I was told, and in fact read many times, that exercise was a great way of countering some of the symptoms of depression. My issue was that the thought of going out on my bike caused me anxiety and stress, both things which I was trying to avoid and so I dismissed the notion as not for me. Nearly two and a half years later I'm starting to understand a little of what the mysterious they were talking about.

About a month ago I moved into a new flat, one which I'm living in on my own, it's great to have my own space again. As a consequence of that move I've been doing a lot more walking. It's located in such a place that I can walk to pretty much everywhere I need to go on a regular basis. I can walk to my shifts at the coffee house, my church, a couple of supermarkets, as well as the centre of town, and I've been doing that as much as is practically possible. It's become a time that I enjoy, an opportunity to pop my headphones in and listen to some music or catch up on a few podcasts.

Over the last couple of weeks I've begun to notice something, when I don't get my daily walks in my mood suffers. The realisation has come home to roost this bank holiday weekend. On Saturday and Monday I didn't really go out. I stayed home in my flat tinkering on my websites, making a few adjustments, watching some TV shows, what most people call relaxing. And it has been just that, but today I noticed the heaviness creeping in, it made me realise what effect going out for a walk has on me.

It's not just the small amount of exercise that a brisk walk provides that I've missed today, it's the intentionality of going for a walk. Instead of the day just passing by, the act of walking to work is intentional and provides an element of structure to my day. I need to schedule in the time for my walk to work otherwise I won't get there on time letting people down. It helps that my walk to work is a pleasant one down an old railway line, that's what's in the photo at the top of this post, for a moment I can be lost in the wonder of looking at the trees and greenery as I walk. It provides a chance to look at God's creation and see how the same place changes from day to day. It's a chance to walk and listen to some new music or the latest podcasts, in my own little world that's outside in the wider world. It's a chance to pop the headphones out and walk listening to the birds and rustling of the trees. When the sun's out it's especially enjoyable, but even on a rainy day I look forward to my walk to work.

Almost by accident I've discovered that the act of walking to work provides me with a moment of calm. In that walk there is nothing I can do for my design business, nothing I need to do for my coffee house shift, no tweets or Instagram photos to catch up on (unless I want to walk into my fellow walkers or be run over by the many cyclists), I can just enjoy the simple act of walking.

Made some updates to my websites theme, the link posts now behave like the traditional linked list items and quotes have a style more befitting them.

Typical British weather, sunny and hot in the build up to a bank holiday weekend then wet and cooler when the weekend arrives.

Love it when the sun is shining, it always lifts my mood considerably. ☀️😎

Waking up to the horrible news from Manchester. Praying for all those effected.

Pushed an update to my portfolio this morning to make it easier to update and more versatile layout wise. Keep an eye on it for updates through the week.

Sat down after work to do a bit of design/coding for my website, all of a sudden it’s well after 10pm!

Decided to try and experiment this week. Alarm clock set to go off at 0730 everyday – including Saturday and Sunday – and iPhone alarms turned off.

Cooked breakfast with a friend and now a day of introverting ahead of me. Hopefully some progress on my personal site and portfolio updates.