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Monday, January 25, 2021

Walking and Writing. Walking and Thinking. How Walking Aids the Creative Mind

 By Patti Sherry-Crews

Walking While Reading

“He appeared one day, driving up in one of his cars as I was walking along reading Ivanhoe. Often I would walk along reading books. I didn’t see anything wrong with this but it became something else to be added as further proof against me. ‘Reading-while-walking’ was definitely on the list….Anyway, I did not want a lift. That was generally speaking. I liked walking—walking and reading, walking and thinking.”—From The Milkman, by Anna Burns


In this story, set in 1960’s Belfast, a young woman insulates herself from the sights and sounds of life lived in a war zone by burying her head in books as she navigates the city. Until one day a notorious paramilitary leader takes an interest in her and she is forced to face the sectarian violence in her community. I think about this book a lot. I imagine the main character (who remains nameless like all the other characters) repeating like a mantra, “I’m walking and reading. Walking and thinking.”


Walking While Writing


 Views From My Morning Walk


I’ve always been a fan of the long walk. I start my days, except in case of extreme weather, with a long, brisk walk. This past year I’ve set about my walk with more intensity. Not unlike the young woman in The Milkman, the thought runs through my mind, I’m walking and I’m writing, walking and thinking.

This walk plays a key part in my writing, which is a fact I’ve known for years. I do my best writing away from my desk. I dialog with my characters and see where they take me. I organize my thoughts and problem-solve while I'm out in nature.

And I’m not alone in this, because there are many writers who find this exercise spurs their creativity. Wordsworth said he wrote the whole poem Tintern Abbey while out on a ramble, and when he got home he was able to commit it whole to paper.

There was a study that came out years ago saying the opposable limb movement involved in walking is like a brain massage and walkers reported an increase in their creativity hours after going for a walk. 

So imagine my delight to find a new book, In Praise of Walking, by Shane O’Mara. O’Mara is a professor of experimental brain research at Trinity College, Dublin. Much of the book tells us things we already know about the benefits of walking: weight loss, mood elevation, strengthened circulatory system, etc. But the chapter that most interested me was titled Creative Walking. 

According to O’Mara our brains work in two modes. 1) Active Executive Mode and 2) Default Mode. In Active Executive Mode, the mind is focused and processing details. The Default Mode he calls mind-wandering or what we might call gathering wool or daydreaming. We switch back and forth between the two modes, and it’s necessary we do so. The default mode allows us to incorporate information from the active executive. I’m sure the writers among us recognize hitting a snag and having to “procrastinate” for a few moments. Stop feeling guilty when you step away from your work! It’s part of the process. 


Lake Michigan a Short Walk Away


He goes on to say that when you use both modes simultaneously, you are at your most creative. So, this is where walking comes in. While we’re not aware of it, walking is a very complex activity. We’re trying to stay balanced and upright, while being alert to possible hazards, and accessing maps in our head. But unless you’re a toddler your body has this covered. Meanwhile your mind is free to wander. I liken it to giving a child a box of crayons so the parent can turn their attention to other work. 

While we’re walking, we drift in and out of awareness of our environment. Take a minute and think about all the things that run through your mind on a hike or a walk. You remember past experiences, imagine future possibilities, work through problems, and think about your relationships among other things. O’Mara calls this “Active idleness” or “mental housekeeping.” I call it story-telling. 

In addition, walking stimulates the part of the brain, the hippocampus responsible for memory function. And what is creativity but the ability to make connections? As a writer, I’m aware of how I use stored memories to create a story. Bits and bobs I’ve collected over the years, float around in my brain, ready to be stitched together.


An Evanston Bridge



Walking while Talking


“The advantage of walking in company is that it facilitates information exchange, and the integration of that information with your own memories, thoughts, and feelings.”— Shane O’Mara


I love to walk with friends, and in this time of Covid, it has become one of the only ways to spend time together. But, my favorite walk is the walk I take with my daughter every morning. She lives in New York City. I live in a suburb of Chicago. We coordinate our free times so we have an hour or so to chat. We share news, gossip, laugh a lot, share insights, talk about the past, and sometimes we walk together in silence. Often we share pictures of interesting or pretty things we see on our walks.

When my then 24 year old daughter drove off to New York City March 1, she had an apartment lined up in Brooklyn, sight unseen. She rented one room in a windowless apartment with three strangers. Yes, really, no windows. Just skylights in every room. I asked her if she thought living in a windowless apartment with three strangers was a good idea. Her response was “How much time do you spend in your apartment, anyway?”

As fate would have it, she would spend a lot of time in a windowless apartment with three strangers. Months, in fact. Within weeks of moving there, the virus hit New York City and hit it hard, especially in the area of Brooklyn where she lived. She hadn’t even had a chance yet to meet people, so she was largely alone. In her favor she left Chicago given the opportunity to continue working remotely, so that was a blessing as it turned out.

All she could do outside of her apartment was to go for long walks or bike rides. This was when we got in the routine of our morning walk and talks. It was our lifeline to each other. At that time, while we walked I heard the almost constant ambulance sirens in the background. In fact, she did compare it to living in a war zone.

She came home for the summer and returned to New York just as things were opening up again. She switched apartments and now lives in a converted loft that has not only windows but floor to ceiling windows and two new, great roommates. 

So, things are much better now, but we have kept up our daily walk and talks. I love listening to the city sounds in the background of her calls—the traffic, other people talking and laughing, and the bird sounds. An incredible amount of birds! More than I hear here.


The Brooklyn Bridge

Anyway, I mention this because recently I was going through her Instagram account to find a particular item. Scrolling through her pictures sent me back in time, and I thought, wow, we’ve been through a lot! We’ve been through a lot—not she’s been through a lotI didn't just remember her telling me what happened, I felt it in my bones.

Walking and talking with her, in good times and bad, her experiences are imprinted in my mind in such a profound way, that even before reading In Praise of Walking, I had an ah-ha moment about the power of walking while talking.

Thankfully, she’s living her best life (or near to it as can be at the moment) in NYC. Incidentally, she has a new job producing podcasts for the aptly named Roam Media. My fellow roamer.


Living Her Best Life (as best as can be expected with outdoor dining, masks, sneeze guards, and social distancing)

Of course, not everyone can get out for a daily long walks for one reason or another, but there are other activities I find allow my mind to wander and help me craft a story. Knitting and working jigsaws puzzles will do this for me as well. Are you a walker? Are there other activities you engage in that help your creativity?


images the author's own


14 comments:

  1. What a lovely post. I used to so enjoy a long walk in a forest to reset my mind. I later found out that people call it forest bathing. Who knew? It certainly does help the process things. I also used to sing if it was isolated enough.

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    1. C.A., I almost included the Japanese habit of forest bathing! O'Mara rates the types of environments you walk in for brain benefit and walking in nature or near water reaps the most rewards. Singing! that's awesome! I imagine the reverberations in your chest helps your whole body. I've always loved walking but really fell in love with it when I lived in Wales and we used to go "rambling," which was so common there.

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  2. Patti,

    This was delight to read. I've been a walker-thinker since...forever... When I still had horses, riding substituted for the walking-thinking, but it's been 30 years since horses have been a regular part of my daily activities.

    Back to walking... Like you, unless the weather is too awful, which means ice or dirt storms, I walk every day anywhere from 1 mile to 5 miles. I've worked through many plot problems for my stories while putting one foot in front of the other.

    I've attempted running/jogging many times, but I've never kept with it. Besides not enjoying the huffing, puffing, sweating aspect of jogging, I'm not able to do the thinking that comes with walking.

    Also like you with your daughter, I often visit on the phone with my oldest granddaughter who lives 5 hours away, while she is on her daily walk and when we can coordinate our walks at the same time.

    I used to crochet, but I gave it up when it was too painful to move my hands and fingers like that. I still occasionally sew with my machine, and I piddle-fiddle in my backyard all year long.

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    1. Kaye, I saw you posting about your dust storms!!! I don't go out if I'm afraid of getting hit in the head by falling branches as we have some terrible wind storms here. I do have a pair of yak tracks I put over my shoes for icy days. I love that you walk and talk with your granddaughter! It's the best and I'm sure it means a lot to her.
      I saw Sanjay Gupta on TV promoting his new book on the brain. He is a big proponent of walking and like O'Mara mentions, it does actually stimulate new brain cell growth, which is good news for some of us! He also said, sure, things like working crossword puzzles are good for your brain, but even better is to go for a walk with a friend and walk and talk. It's very stimulating.
      Oh, my gosh, how I envy your years riding horses! We need a new chapter called Walking and Riding. Thanks for stopping by!

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  3. You had me at walking. I've used the footsteps on earth as a way to work out new poetry, clear a story idea, or deal with a frustrating character or plot point. Walking along with photography is also my mental health medicine. Doris

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    1. Doris,I was thinking about you because I know you like to go on long walks too. And you live in such a beautiful place to walk in nature. I enjoy your photos!

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  4. Inspiring and heart-warming post, Patti! I love woodland walking. The romantic suspense writer P Whitney says in her how-to book that she walked to clear her head and inspire creativity.
    I always mean to take a camera but tend to forget!

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    1. Being able to get out in the woods is so cleansing. I live in the Midwest and I enjoy watching the seasons change, which they do with a vengeance! I mostly go the same route daily, but it always looks different--like right now it's covered in new snowfall and still coming down. Very pretty, though I think I'll be shoveling instead of walking today.

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  5. Ironically, I saw your post yesterday right after teaching a First Year Writing class. Part of our discussion was about pre-writing techniques, and "Walking" was one of the things listed in the textbook as an effective pre-writing strategy!

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    1. Interesting to learn you teach writing. That has to be inspiring in it's own way. For me too, having a routine I stick to is helpful, and that includes my first-thing in the day walk where I can clear my head and organize my thoughts. Then I run my errands and whatever other work I have to do, so when I finally sit down to write in the afternoon, my body and brain are primed to write.

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  6. Walking and thinking can be very beneficial. Walking and reading may not be so wonderful--one must navigate those trees and ditches, and, unfortunately, predators waiting for an opportunity. Walking in an urban neighborhood does open up the mind to new ideas and imagination, plus you get to meet neighbors and wave to them as you go, as long as one is aware of the surroundings and signs of possible danger.
    Walking in the woods (lucky if you have access to some nature) is peaceful and inspiring. I still would not read while walking; I would lay down a blanket under a tree to read. Talking while walking is always such a pleasure.
    I hope your daughter does well. I'm trying to imagine living in a windowless apartment. I don't know that I could do that.
    All the best to you, Patti.

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    1. You make a good point that walking in cities has the benefit of being stimulating in other ways. Yes, like running into neighbors or seeing new things. I live half a block off one of our main shopping districts and it's like living in a small town in that I'm sure I'll run into people to chat with, and then the changes in the shop windows themselves are fun to watch. I used to do that daily with my mother when she was still alive. But I also like heading away from the traffic and being alone. Thanks for stopping by, Sarah! (and I told that girl moving into a window-less apartment was a bad idea, LOL). Well now she has all the windows!

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  7. I loved walking. It makes your body feel so much better, and it frees the mind to positive influences. Excellent article

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    1. Thank you, Deborah. I hope you're doing well! Exercise does put us in a better frame of mind.

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