I walk a little over 1000 miles a year (though I only tracked it for the two years I was writing about it, out of curiosity), which is about 2.7 miles a day, or a little under an hour at my pace. Nice to know the 1000 hours outside and on foot can share a relationship—though wouldn’t it be nice to flip it and only have 1000 hours inside? Crazy how we got to this place. Happy walking!
Welp! I have been dithering about doing the 1000 hours outside this year. Your descriptions of your experience with it all year have been inspiring. Among hesitations I have, one is that my husband works a hard job and is outside all the time. And so having/getting to make this sort of resolution to get my butt outdoors in the weather seems a little...I don't know the word. Privileged? Precious?
And yet. Imitating you by writing a few lines every morning turned out to be one of the best things i have done in my life. And the fact that I suffer less, physically, for my work, than my loved one doesn't change the simple fact that, I need more outside. So. I guess that does it. (1000 hours though?! We will see if I can do it.)
Thank you for sharing the 1000 hour challenge, Chris! I didn't measure it this year, but I kept to it. I just spent an hour gathering falling branches from last night's storm, and I'm often out for a walk in the winter, if not a bike ride, so I'm sure I was close. In the milder weather, I made sure to work outside when I could, and I read a lot of books from my hammock. It's been great for my health, and I'm going to double down this year. I'm not outside in the dark enough. That's going to change.
I stopped letting the cold bother me, next it will be the dark.
I think the antithesis of all this is the people who purposely go for walks around and round inside shopping malls. I never have figured that out. The ravens sit outside in the parking lots, laughing at them.
Wonderful! You remind me that I was thinking of calling this my 'year of walks.' Not that I've measured, but after adopting a dog last spring, I realized that we're not out all the time in all the weather -- not once a day when it was just me, but now two or three times-- and I find I love walking more than ever, even though most of it involves s exploring every alley within a two mile radius, finding new and convoluted ways through town, and visiting favorite trees (smell for her, bark texture and presence for me).
As you say, there is "not a single aspect of my life that is not better for time spent outside."
Concerning walking: I like this quote from Antonio Machado, "Caminante, no hay camino. Se hace camino al andar". (Walker, there is no path. The path is made by walking). ¡Vamanos!
Oh, by the way, I just finished your book ONE-SENTENCE JOURNAL. So many gems to ponder. I particularly like the poem I BELIEVE - "...poking their way through the cracks/between those spaces where the world/says they're not supposed to be". Reminds me of Oscar Wilde.
I didn't realize the outside hours were a conscious goal. I love this, and how much data you got from this experiment. "hoo-hoo into the darkness" = alternate name for a substack. happy 2024, happy breathing in the (cold) air! xoxo (ps excited for your walking expeditions...)
Mentally, mindfully, stand- in- your- heart-space, INTENTIONAL time outside is a great salve, a healing balm for all that ails us. Thank you for bringing this back to the forefront of my over- crowded brain.
We had a good spate of snow today, making my job as a truck driver a little more challenging but the beauty of clouds of feathers swirling through the air, bringing out the beauties of each individual twig and branch, made up for any difficulties I encountered. (That and strong, hot coffee from my venerable, battered, blue Thermos.)
Amik 🖤 I just started my masters online through Oregon State and it felt right that their mascot is Amikwag.
I’d love to take on the 1000 hours outside challenge, wish my old dog would join me but he hates walks whenever the temperature drops below 60. We’ll see!
Happy, cold, grateful and connected. What a wonderful state of being! Seeing Nookomis, Mishomis and amik (sign) makes it even better :-) Enjoy your walks!
I think tracking my time spent outdoors would just be yet another thing on my To Do list that would stress me out (I need to generally pull back on tracking things because my brain does this naturally with no apps or tools needed and frankly, it's exhausting) BUT I suspect I get close with my habit of spending every minute of daylight in the summer that I can outside.
I'm hyper aware of this when anyone living in the same city as me remarks on the weather not being great for being outdoors when it absolutely was because... if the weather allows, I am outside without fail. I mean, it was a bit alarming to be able to sit in a deck chair basking in the sun in late December, but you bet I was doing it!
Anyway, I notice that many people do not actually notice the weather and I get it. I am in the fortunate position that my schedule allows me to pop outside whenever I like and I am able to do my work on a deck with ease, while most folks are beholden to a work schedule. But even my retired parents will go on about a "terrible cold Spring" when I spent most of it outside and know that their concept of the weather is more about them not setting up their outdoors space for just being in than it is that the weather wasn't great.
I walk a little over 1000 miles a year (though I only tracked it for the two years I was writing about it, out of curiosity), which is about 2.7 miles a day, or a little under an hour at my pace. Nice to know the 1000 hours outside and on foot can share a relationship—though wouldn’t it be nice to flip it and only have 1000 hours inside? Crazy how we got to this place. Happy walking!
Welp! I have been dithering about doing the 1000 hours outside this year. Your descriptions of your experience with it all year have been inspiring. Among hesitations I have, one is that my husband works a hard job and is outside all the time. And so having/getting to make this sort of resolution to get my butt outdoors in the weather seems a little...I don't know the word. Privileged? Precious?
And yet. Imitating you by writing a few lines every morning turned out to be one of the best things i have done in my life. And the fact that I suffer less, physically, for my work, than my loved one doesn't change the simple fact that, I need more outside. So. I guess that does it. (1000 hours though?! We will see if I can do it.)
Thank you for sharing the 1000 hour challenge, Chris! I didn't measure it this year, but I kept to it. I just spent an hour gathering falling branches from last night's storm, and I'm often out for a walk in the winter, if not a bike ride, so I'm sure I was close. In the milder weather, I made sure to work outside when I could, and I read a lot of books from my hammock. It's been great for my health, and I'm going to double down this year. I'm not outside in the dark enough. That's going to change.
I stopped letting the cold bother me, next it will be the dark.
I think the antithesis of all this is the people who purposely go for walks around and round inside shopping malls. I never have figured that out. The ravens sit outside in the parking lots, laughing at them.
Wonderful! You remind me that I was thinking of calling this my 'year of walks.' Not that I've measured, but after adopting a dog last spring, I realized that we're not out all the time in all the weather -- not once a day when it was just me, but now two or three times-- and I find I love walking more than ever, even though most of it involves s exploring every alley within a two mile radius, finding new and convoluted ways through town, and visiting favorite trees (smell for her, bark texture and presence for me).
As you say, there is "not a single aspect of my life that is not better for time spent outside."
The quote of the year methinks.
Well done. Congratulations on finishing the challenge in the way you wished to, but even more, in finding a way of life that gives you joy.💚
Concerning walking: I like this quote from Antonio Machado, "Caminante, no hay camino. Se hace camino al andar". (Walker, there is no path. The path is made by walking). ¡Vamanos!
Oh, by the way, I just finished your book ONE-SENTENCE JOURNAL. So many gems to ponder. I particularly like the poem I BELIEVE - "...poking their way through the cracks/between those spaces where the world/says they're not supposed to be". Reminds me of Oscar Wilde.
I didn't realize the outside hours were a conscious goal. I love this, and how much data you got from this experiment. "hoo-hoo into the darkness" = alternate name for a substack. happy 2024, happy breathing in the (cold) air! xoxo (ps excited for your walking expeditions...)
Wow! What a great idea! I spend a lot of time outside but never as much as I like. I think I have to try this! Thanks :)
Mentally, mindfully, stand- in- your- heart-space, INTENTIONAL time outside is a great salve, a healing balm for all that ails us. Thank you for bringing this back to the forefront of my over- crowded brain.
We had a good spate of snow today, making my job as a truck driver a little more challenging but the beauty of clouds of feathers swirling through the air, bringing out the beauties of each individual twig and branch, made up for any difficulties I encountered. (That and strong, hot coffee from my venerable, battered, blue Thermos.)
This is a small slice of my day today. Blessings.
Amik 🖤 I just started my masters online through Oregon State and it felt right that their mascot is Amikwag.
I’d love to take on the 1000 hours outside challenge, wish my old dog would join me but he hates walks whenever the temperature drops below 60. We’ll see!
Happy, cold, grateful and connected. What a wonderful state of being! Seeing Nookomis, Mishomis and amik (sign) makes it even better :-) Enjoy your walks!
I think tracking my time spent outdoors would just be yet another thing on my To Do list that would stress me out (I need to generally pull back on tracking things because my brain does this naturally with no apps or tools needed and frankly, it's exhausting) BUT I suspect I get close with my habit of spending every minute of daylight in the summer that I can outside.
I'm hyper aware of this when anyone living in the same city as me remarks on the weather not being great for being outdoors when it absolutely was because... if the weather allows, I am outside without fail. I mean, it was a bit alarming to be able to sit in a deck chair basking in the sun in late December, but you bet I was doing it!
Anyway, I notice that many people do not actually notice the weather and I get it. I am in the fortunate position that my schedule allows me to pop outside whenever I like and I am able to do my work on a deck with ease, while most folks are beholden to a work schedule. But even my retired parents will go on about a "terrible cold Spring" when I spent most of it outside and know that their concept of the weather is more about them not setting up their outdoors space for just being in than it is that the weather wasn't great.
Beautiful and inspiring, Chris, as usual. Such a lovely way to start a dark, January morning.
Such a beautiful essay! Thank you. Will be walking with you this year...
I’m so inspired by your commitment to spending all those hours outdoors. Thank you, friend.