Thursday, 16 July 2026
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) firmly believed that people should regard themselves as part and parcel of nature rather than members of society. In nature one has absolute freedom and wildness. To his consternation he wrote, “only one or two persons in the course of my life understood the art of walking” or who had “a genius for sauntering.” Legs were not made to sit upon, he declared, but to stand or walk upon.
People walk in the highways and across parking lots, “I walk out into nature much the way the old prophets and poets, Manu, Moses, Homer and Chaucer walked in.” True sauntering takes place in the woods and meadows” and not in parking lots and on highways.
“The moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow,” Thoreau wrote and said, but if your body is walking but your mind is elsewhere, “What business do you have in the woods if you are thinking something out of the woods.” Focus on your breath or on your moving feet, keep your hearing tuned in to your surroundings – flowing water or the cackling of wild geese. Thoreau walked for four or more hours a day.
Through the centuries, many creative masters and geniuses have used walking to stimulate and cultivate their creative minds. William Wordsworth was spotted most days out of doors walking and contemplating.
Beethoven made a ritual of walking. During the workday, he took a short walking break in the morning to clear his mind, and a longer walk in the afternoon. He carried paper and a pen with him to jot down notes when inspiration struck.
Both Aristotle and Socrates inextricably linked thinking to walking. Both conducted their lectures outdoors. Aristotle walked the grounds of the Lyceum carrying his books while his students followed, listening and learning.
Friedrich Nietzsche’s motto was, “All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” This was born out of his own experience. When writing a book, he would walk alone for up to eight hours a day.
When you are by yourself, loneliness feels different when you are in nature. Amongst trees, shrubs, fountains, streams, hills and pastures, loneliness takes on a different character. It connects you and the world around you, turning loneliness into solitude.