The unknown is good for us.
I know, right? It’s terrifying! At times, anyway.
Walking and writing are leaders, both. Where one leads us through the landscapes of the physical world around us, the other leads us inwards, through the landscapes of our own interior. The knowable unknown. The unknowable known.
Whether walking or writing, the interior is calling. Whether walking or writing, there are a hundred, a thousand, a million reasons to ignore the longing. As many reasons as you need.
Take one step towards the longing to walk or write and everything changes. It has to. Because, whether walking or writing, you have opened the door to an inner strength that previously has been silenced, patiently or otherwise biding its time for the light.
Walking and writing lead us into the unknown, and for this reason they change lives. They change lives precisely because in one moment a decision was made to step forward, rather than hold back.
And that’s why entering unknown is good for us. It makes us brave. It brings us to life. We surrender. We meet what’s before us in this moment. We call on the personal resources we’ve gathered along the way through this life and put them to work on our own behalf.
Through walking and writing, we meet life.
As it is. As we are.
Image: Photo from Walk&Write Camino, 2018.
Stephanie Dale is an award-winning journalist, author and founder of the International Wellbeing-through-writing Institute. In 2014 she launched The Write Road, a wellbeing-through-writing initiative for rural and remote Australians. She is passionate about pilgrimage, and in 2017 founded Walk&Write holiday writing adventures.