Walking "The Useful Walk" | Blogs
I just passed my 2nd Anniversary of writing The Page Turner. You know how I remember now? I volunteered at the local library used book sale again!
And I did shop the sale again... a little... not too much. Maybe it was because I made the (pretty minimal) effort to walk to the library and back for my volunteer shift last night, rather than drive.
I watched a Ted Talk this week featuring Jeff Speck, author of The Walkable City (haven't read it yet, but want to!), who says, "We've talked a long time about diet and we know that diet impacts weight, and weight impacts health. But we've only started talking about inactivity. Inactivity, born of our [car-dependent] landscape. Inactivity that comes from the fact that we live in a place where there's no longer any such thing as 'the useful walk.' [This is what] is driving our weight up." (TedTalks, Oct 2013)
A key point here is The Useful Walk. I know a lot of people who KNOW they "should exercise more," and beat themselves up that they don't. But what if instead of having to get in a car, they could choose to walk because there was someplace meaningful to get to - on foot? Instead of work or school, shopping, and errands all being car-oriented, and then having to carve out other time for a walk or run (essentially to "nowhere"), what if the two could be re-unified?