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 lot.  I 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