NOTHING TO HURRY FOR

A walk doesn't need a destination.

When you step out the door, you may have a rough idea of how far you'll go.
You follow the familiar path, pause a few times, and after a while, turn back.
But what matters in a walk isn't where you arrive.

A few steps in, we stop. A long sniff. A long stare at nothing in particular.
We wait in front of it.
"Let's go."
Sometimes we tug gently at the leash, feeling we should move a little faster.
But sometimes just standing there is enough.
Even without knowing what's being looked at, we stay a while, together, in that spot.
And then the things that weren't visible become visible 
a small weed growing beneath a wall,
a leaf moving slowly in the wind,
the warmth an asphalt road has held onto from the sun.

A day always moves toward some destination.
Where to go, what to do, when to be back.
Even while walking, we think about the next appointment, check the time.
But for the length of a walk, we're allowed to set all that down.
Stop when you want to stop. Walk when you want to walk.
It's fine to take the long way.

A good walk isn't measured by how far you go.
It's in hurrying a little less.
In not needing a destination.
In stopping together, when it's time to stop.
Today, it's fine to decide nothing.
It's fine to take the long way, fine to stand still for a long while.
A walk never needed a reason to hurry.