Zen and the art of The Walk

ZEN & THE ART OF THE WALK

By Coach Cary Bayer

            I love my body, so I like to exercise it everyday--tennis, bike riding (the kind that lets breezes rustle your hair and the kind that lets you breeze through novels) or, occasionally, walking.  The latter seems a tame workout, unless you walk for an hour like I did yesterday.

            With time suddenly opened in my schedule, I thought, let's enjoy the glorious 75-degree August morning with a walk.  I followed my country road into the magical town of Woodstock.  The round-trip hike was three miles.

            First off, I noticed soda cans off the road and, inspired by former First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson's beautification program, retrieved them in a bag I was carrying.  It felt good to play a small part. 

            I turned the corner on one road and happened upon a grass-chomping deer.  Woodstock deer-sighting is literally an everyday occurrence, but not from 10 feet.   We clearly surprised each other.  But he was cool and I was cool, and we simply gazed at each other.  I picked a spear of grass and offered him some.  He made no response, so I approached; still no response.  At six feet, he gamboled away.   The deer are more mellow around people than a decade ago. Soon they might eat from our hands.

            As I walked on, layer upon layer of insights about several characters in the novel I'm writing suddenly flashed into my consciousness.  I'd already written 50 pages, outlined plot and characters, but hadn't seen these special qualities about these people I'd created.  The insights from this little Zen walk gave these characters a much deeper life.

            Other creative writing ideas dawned in my mind, as well. Namely, the idea for this column.  The life lesson I learned: take a spontaneous Zen walk and let the Universe surprise you with treats.

            By the time I returned home, I had gained a great deal more than just a workout: beautifying of the environment, a new deer friend, a deeper novel, and a column.  Oh, and one more thing: the supermarket rewarded my cleanup--several of those cans were refundable.

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Cary Bayer is a Life Coach who conducts a national private practice from his two offices: in the legendary Woodstock (845-679-5526) and by the ocean in south Florida (954-788-3380).  You can visit him on the web at www.carybayer.com or email him at successaerobics@aol.com