After a Long Walk

Hello.

The leaves are beginning to turn, and autumn feels close. It is still warm, and pleasant to be outside.

I have just come back from a walk with my parents. A long one, too. You might almost call it an excursion. A little over an hour each way, about two and a half hours there and back. Our destination was a shrine.

I have noticed something lately: walking makes me feel good.

I don't need to look it up in a research paper to know that.

As we walk, we talk about the houses we pass, the roads, the buildings that went up while we weren't looking, the tall buildings far off in the distance. Small, idle things. That alone is enough to make me feel good. That is all it is.

And yet it is also something remarkable, because it feels as good as being praised by someone.

Was it really this simple? They say some people will wreck their health, even their relationships, in pursuit of praise. But isn't this enough? All you have to do is walk. I think they are missing out, never knowing the happiness of walking.