How to Walk Slowly

Unless you’re an intergalactic voyager on The Axiom (the spacecraft in Pixar’s WALL-E), you probably have to do some walking on your typical day of work or school. Generally speaking, there are three ways to walk: slowly, normally, or quickly.

To walk normally is to walk like the average person, at an average speed. To walk quickly is to walk fast enough to break a sweat on a cool fall morning. This usually means you’re running late. Something went awry or you didn’t plan your day precisely enough. You are now uncomfortable and on the defensive. You don’t notice anything spectacular during your walk.

To walk slowly is to stroll, to be so aware of your surroundings that the space around you becomes a temple; the ground beneath your feet becomes hollowed ground. Everything looks different, from the dance of ginkgo leaves to the wave from your neighbor. What regularly are happenstance encounters become meaningful moments, important enough to change the course of your week. As the dragonflies make love in front of your eyes you’re reminded of your place in the universe, what this all is really about.

In order to walk slowly you cannot be late or on time. You must be early. To be early, you must plan ahead. And though scheduling your day seems contrary to allowing the spontaneous forces of nature into your day, it turns out to be the only way that anything random can happen.

Plan extra time to walk, whether it be 20 minutes to campus or 3 minutes from your car to the office. This extra time may be the catalyst for a breakthrough idea or important relationship.