If you're a seasoned reader of this blog then you will know that I love exercise and sport. It is something that I have always enjoyed ever since I was very young. In school I'd always be the one with a gazillion bags packed with a variety of different kits ready for that evenings activity. However, for a while now exercise has started to become a necessity rather than a want and I feel that this change in mentality has taking a whole lot of fun out of it. So yesterday, instead of getting up at my usual 6am and walking to the gym before the day begins, I stayed in bed for an extra hour, went to the university bar/cafe and did a few hours work before deciding to put on my trainers and head out for a walk.
I love walking, especially during autumn when the leaves are all changing and falling to the ground and you're all wrapped up with the sun shining down like a natural spotlight on the beautiful earth. Although yesterday, yes the leaves had changed and most of them lined the path that we walked, it was definitely not cold and crisp. At one point it reached over 20 degrees. That is insane heat for the last day of October!
I am incredibly lucky to live where I live. Within a five minute walk I find myself surrounded by thousands of trees that have stood for hundreds of years, fields that are filled with over excited dogs and one massive lake that never seems to stop amazing me with its vastness and beauty. I am talking about Windsor Great Park. The park has miles and miles of different tree lined paths that allow you to adventure into formally unknown areas every time you visit. The crunch of the leaves and the vastness of everything that surrounds you makes you feel as though you are the only person exploring the 5,000 acre deer park.
Often I find myself walking four or five miles of the park on my own just trying not to think of anything except that of which is in front of me. I look at the dogs running riot while their owners try to break up canine territorial fights. I look at the ducks floating on the surface of the water. I look at the red, brown and yellow leaves that lie as a carpet underneath my feet and I listen to the silence that is so welcomed after hours upon hours and days upon days of being surrounded by people, conversations, lectures and seminars.
Of course I like to socialise and spend time with my friends. I also enjoy learning through hours of discussions in seminars but sometime you need a break, even if that break is just for an hour. An hour to get away from your desk and the pressures of life. An hour to be by yourself or with a friend talking about life or not talking at all. An hour of pure relaxation.
I have thus made a decision. I will make time for at least one walk a week. An activity that does not require me to be within the four walls of the gym, the library or the house. Just an hour or of my time when nothing can bother me, no dissertation worries, essay panics or reading woes. An hour when almost all seems right in the world. For me at least, I can't think of anything else that brings more simple joy than to just be surrounded by nature. Maybe that's a result of growing up in the middle of the countryside where nature in the form of fields and trees basically act as both your friend and toy. Or maybe it's just a universal fact that has become largely unacknowledged that all you need in life is health, simplicity, happiness, family, friends and nature.
I headed out on my little walk yesterday with my walking, adventure and all round buddy Hollie, who writes a blog called Tales By Tye and if you want to see more pictures from our little afternoon adventure head over to her quite awesome site :)
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