5 min read

Dear Snackers,

As mentioned, I will be showcasing some guest writers in the coming weeks. I hope you enjoy this week’s read by Gila Pfeffer. This piece hit home for me because I, too, struggle with this.

-Caitlin

Slow Walking for Fast People

As a Gen X, born and bred New Yorker, there are some things about me that are constant: I dress almost exclusively in monochromes. I hold my valuables close to my body when out and about. And I walk fast. (As fast as my short legs will allow, anyway)

Nothing gets my eye twitching like getting stuck behind a slow walker, or, worse, a merry band of them ambling along in a row like they’ve got nowhere to be. This is not to say that when I’m out walking, I’ve always got somewhere I need to be.   I’m just hardwired for forward propulsion. Long after I left the city for suburban family life, my gait remained unchanged.  

So, imagine how I bristled when, a few months ago, my therapist said, “I have a challenge for you: Get outside, somewhere green, and walk slowly for 5 minutes.”

“How slow are we talking?” I asked, already antsy.

“Walk as slow as humanly possible and then: go even slower.”

“Uh, ok. I’m sure I can do 5 minutes”, even though I wasn’t sure at all. 

“Take in everything around you, the grass, tree trunks, veins on each leaf. See how it makes you feel. See how it makes your MIND feel,” she said with a wry smile as I got up to leave. 

Here's how that went.

I bundled up and stepped outside. I set the timer on my phone and put it in my coat pocket, looked up at the pale winter sky, took in a deep breath of crisp air and put one foot in front of the other. I went heel to toe, really connecting with the earth beneath my feet. 

Oh, hey little chirping birds, I’m out for a slow walk, please applaud. 

I took another step and noted the evergreen leaves and other foliage.  

I am absolutely nailing this challenge.

I took a third step and lost my balance, nearly toppling over. My body and mind fed on momentum and now I had none. Momentum was what kept me upright. Spinning plates fall if the sticks they rest on don’t move fast enough. 

Look at me, already having a revelation on my maiden voyage! 

Concentrating harder this time, I took another step. Then another. I wobbled again but continued my interminable odyssey around the backyard. It reminded me of when my kids first learned to walk and all they wanted to do was toddle up and down our block, grabbing hold of my pinky while I shuffled along. We would have medaled in a team event at the Snail Olympics for sure. 

Why hasn’t my alarm gone off, it’s got to be 5 minutes by now. 

 I snuck a peek at my phone:  2 minutes and 13 seconds are you kidding me? I soldiered on, swatting away thoughts about dinner- maybe there’s something already cooked in the freezer-, booking an overdue dental cleaning, and writing deadlines I’d left for the last minute. I took in the frost on the bushes, the earthy, mineral smell of the muddy soil and the- wait is that a rusty bicycle pump wedged against the fence? two deflated basket balls?? a broken plastic fork, an ice pop wrapper all caked in dirt?????  They must have been sitting here since the summer.  

My alarm yanked me out of my silent rant and the walk was over. I felt relieved. I also felt surprisingly  invigorated. 

I arrived at our next session with a full report. 

“Well, I almost fell over several times. And I saw some garbage left by my almost adult kids and their friends from who knows when. The bird chatter was in competition with my brain chatter and I’m not sure who won, but I’ll admit, I felt good afterward.”

“Ok”, she grinned, “now try to do that every day.”

My next slow walk didn’t transform me into an enlightened Zen master either, but I noticed the lack of trash. That’s because I got one of my sons to clean it up. Balance was still a struggle and I still checked the time on my phone. 

Over the following weeks and months, however, my mind came to accept that this was not admin time, and it quieted, allowing me to stay in the present. It also made space for new creative ideas. It was on a slow walk that I had the idea to write about slow walks. 

It’s not yet a daily practice for me, but I’m keeping up with it. I still struggle with the pace and focus much of my attention there which I guess is the point, but I no longer lose my balance. I leave my phone inside and don’t bother checking the time anymore. I stop when I decide it’s time to stop and often, I naturally stop around the 5-minute mark anyway. 

My therapist would like me to increase to ten minutes and then 15 but that’s not going to happen any time soon. You can take the girl out of NY, but only 5 minutes at a time.Vanessa Glavinskas is writer and award-winning journalist who has covered everything from hurricanes to hunger, but her most challenging assignment yet is raising her teen daughter.

-Gila Pfeffer is a humorist,  breast cancer prevention advocate and public speaker. Her recent memoir NEARLY DEPARTED: Adventures in Loss, Cancer and Other Inconveniences has been described as heartbreakingly hilarious and lifesaving. Gila’s writing has appeared in the New York Times, The New Yorker, Today.com and more. Her four grown children reluctantly admit they think she’s cool.

• MAKE: Here’s an unfuckupable chicken sandwich and life changing cheese soup recipe from StaceyGreenLiving’s self-published, profanity filled comedy cookbook about how terrible it can be to feed kids, "You'll Eat It & You'll Like It". She wrote her cookbook to try and bring parents and caregivers a bit of joy while they're navigating the hellish waters that are mealtimes. If dark humour and delicious recipes are your jam, you'll dig it.

• DANCE: Motown for life. Get involved.