I Walked the Other Way

I've been taking more walks recently. As much as I enjoy variety... in color, in friends, in food, in life... I have a tendency to be a creature of habit in some areas. Walking is often one of them. I find a route that I like. I see if it's smooth pavement (because I'm inclined to stumble or trip around lifted pavement, sunken crevices and so forth). Then I put on my music player and set off. While I'm walking, I don't want to have to look at my feet. I just want to walk, think, pray.

While in the Slovak village where I've been taking a mini-sabbatical, I found such a path. I'd walk down my friends' drive, turn right and use the sidewalks and a few parking lots until they stopped right past the village's historic church. Then, I'd turn around and return the way I'd come. I liked the familiarity, and I loved that I didn't have to pay close attention to my steps; I could just move. Walk. Think. Pray.

Then, there came a day midst the recent days when there was a change. I walked to the end of my friends' drive, started to turn right, but stopped instead and thought: "I'm going to walk the other way."

Now, that might not sound so profound. It might seem a simple thing. And in some ways, 'twas. However, in all the other ways, it was literally and figuratively a significant choice. When I walked the other way, I was walking in to the unknown. I passed goats, chickens, barking dogs, a ceramic mermaid on wheels, old Eastern European cars that were put out to field and a railroad track that seemed stuck out in the middle of nowhere.

I also walked into Nature instead of population. I walked past berries, and cat-of-nine-tail-like plants, flowers, and dying leaves on trees that were weaving in the wind. I walked toward the windmills I'd being seeing out my window for all the weeks I'd been studying at my friends' house. Then, I meandered into fields of crops I could not name.

When I walked the other way, I had to pay attention. I couldn't just move. I did think. I did pray. But most of all, I just relished being in the current moment. I didn't wish to be elsewhere. I soaked up the "now" of it all while breathing in the fresh air, un-perfumed by the tailpipes of passing cars. I noticed little details on the horticulture around me. My spirits lifted and endorphins became my friend.

On that day, I made a decision. It's one that's very likely changing the direction of my life. And it all started when I walked the other way...