My stock answer to this question is “for fun and physical therapy.” Yes, these walkabouts and stair street climbs are good physical therapy. It’s almost four years since my stroke and I cannot stop pushing myself. (Look for a podcast of this blog, coming soon). Going to places where tourists, and many city residents for that matter, don’t go, seeing interesting things and encountering kind strangers, all this is a joy. Having people walk with me makes things even better.
So I don’t do this just for fun and physical therapy. There is spiritual therapy at work too. These walks and the encounters I have along them are energizing.
I am prompted to write this after reading a column in today’s New York Times that says all this more eloquently than I can. Read it at
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/15/opinion/walking-mindfulness-benefits.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare.
Walk with me, in person if you can, in spirit otherwise. Get out on your feet or in your wheelchair and enjoy. Look up, down, around, and away from your electronic device.
