I can’t resist a walk along the seafront on a warm summer’s day.
The best times are very early or just before sunset. That’s when all the crowds have yet to gather, or have dissipated. These are the precious moments of contemplation, stillness and reflection.
I never thought I’d have anything much in common with the German philosopher Nietzsche but he was a great walker and thinker too.
The Beyond Good and Evil author apparently used his walking time to lift him out of depression after an extended period of illness and a failed marriage.
“I would walk for six or eight hours a day, composing thoughts that I would later jot down on paper.”
It’s amazing how many times I start out thinking, I’m never going to get anything done today, my mind is not in the right place, only to start walking and a short time later have six full pages of notes.
That’s exactly what happened a couple of days ago when I walked for an hour or so, then sat on a bench with a coffee, and scribbled away like a maniac before the magic dust wore off.
You have to find what works for you.
Sometimes I can get a lot done at my desk or sitting at the kitchen table, or even in bed, but the combination of warm air, the sound of the seagulls and a brisk march, really does get the creative juices flowing.
“Sit as little as possible; do not believe any idea that was not born in the open air and of free movement — in which the muscles do not also revel… Sitting still… is the real sin against the Holy Ghost” - Friedrich Nietzsche
There will be more of the same this week, albeit at a different beach. But more of that next Monday.
Until then, onwards, scribes!
Lisa