As the days grow ever shorter and colder, Pearl still eats her breakfast on the patio porch. It is a cold rain at the moment with weather forecasting sun for a few brief hours this afternoon. Then, we will walk.

Walking is my one of many solitude practices. I enjoy talking with my sister on the phone as she walks along, too. Or my brother’s wife whose peace of mind is sporadic, at best, and seeps into my own tendency for anxiety because she is so highly anxious.

Tip for the day: peace of mind is an acquired skill. Nurture that and give that gift to the people in your life. Anxiety is contagious. So is serenity. No longer must we be slaves to mood altering whims of unhappiness.

Daily walking is a way to savor life, dispensing with speed and time restraints. I vary my daily walks but the cloud formations, and light projections make it so that each walk is different and necessary for the alert conscious life I’ve put in motion.

Walking brings clarity to creative projects. Walking brings connection to daily life. I have come to recognize people who walk every day in the park I nearly live on. 1000 steps and I am there.

Lately Pearl and I have taken to walking the neighborhood at night to check out Christmas lights. The stars, the moon, the clouds, the wind- rush through us and around us, sprinkling the fairy dust of negative ions, adding to our forward step. These walks are a prayer. Walking is an invitation to live prayerfully.

Saint Augustine said: “Solvitur ambulando” “it is solved by walking.”

Perhaps we are solving a dilemma, a difficult relationship, even a physical malady, all needing a new perspective, always given by a daily walk. That’s how we develop deeper insight to some of life‘s sticky challenges.

As we walk, divine guidance calls to us through the falling leaves and rustling deer and squirrel in the nearby forest.

We touch the creative life and learn to live it. Om