Going outdoors by yourself. To some it may seem as plain as day, to others it might be an experience they’d have never considered. I suspect there are many who love going outdoors but do not think to do enough of it by themselves. I was one of those: before COVID, walks were for seeing friends and enjoying nature in their company. It was really because of lockdown that I started going out by myself, first out of necessity but soon enough because I came to appreciate it.
Whether to cope with lockdown or once we’re back out of it, I recommend you to consider going for more adventures by yourself, and appreciating the benefits it brings.
Don’t get me wrong, during an extended third lockdown, we need to take all the chances we’re allowed to talk to anyone, whether on the phone or meeting up in person - for many, there will be limited options to do this. But even once lockdown is over, many of the points here will still apply and will be worth remembering.
I’ve certainly done a lot more solo adventuring this lockdown. I live alone in rural Cornwall and a 45 minute drive away from any of my nearest friends. I am lucky to live in the Cornish paradise and to work with some wonderful colleagues every day, both of which have prevented me from going completely stir crazy. But through the last 12 months of isolation, I have been forced to discover my inner introvert. As it turns out, when I stopped ignoring myself and started paying attention, I found that I quite like spending time with myself.
If you’re too fidgety to spend time with yourself at home then going for a walk is perfect. You’ll appreciate everything in a different way to how you would if you were with others. Being indoors alone is not the same being outdoors alone. While the indoors is your home; a projection of yourself into a physical space of safety and security; the outdoors is a place filled with all the far-stretching beauty of nature, while holding mysteries and challenges. Sometimes, spending too much time at home alone can mean spending too much time in your own head. But spending time alone outside gives space for self reflection and relaxation. A space away from the problems that can tend to cloud around you at home.
Walking alone, quietly, is meditation. You are literally meditating as you walk. You are focusing your mind on a simple action so the rest of your mind can find peace. You don’t need me to tell you all the reasons why that is so good for you. That’s why so many of history’s great thinkers and doers made a point of going for solo walks. How can you ignore the wisdom of titans such as Friedrich Nietzsche, who said:
“All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.”
Or the great Charles Dickens, who said:
“If I could not walk far and fast, I think I should just explode and perish.”
Amen brother!
You get to set your own pace. You can go as fast as you want: or as is most often the case for me, stop as many times as you want! When I walk alone, I don't feel guilty about slowing the party down every time I stop to look at something interesting. Consider that you are walking through nature’s art gallery, wherever you are, even if in a city. Every detail is a piece of art and every scene a collection. You might not end up walking as far, but I promise your walk will be full of gems if you take the slow, appreciative route.
Although walking with others is nice as you can share appreciation of details with each other, I tend to find that you are more likely to notice details when you’re alone. Plus, you will still enjoy everything even if there is no one around for you to point it out to. Which is my best answer to the ancient proverb “If you’re at the top of a mountain but there’s no one around to take a photo of you standing at the summit, does it make inspiration?” (Although thank god for self timer camera functions, am I right?)
You can choose to listen to music and get lost in that. The sensory input from all five senses will put your enjoyment of music into overdrive. Check out some of my Spotify playlists for handcrafted soundtracks to adventures of all shapes and sizes. Or you can try listening to an audiobook or podcast. It depends on your preference as well as the context. When walking alone, I usually like to walk in silence: to hear the sounds of the world outside, as well as any sounds, thoughts or feelings that arise within me too. This is all ironic, given that most of my walking companions will likely tell you that I am generally very chatty and enthusiastic when walking with others!
You can set yourself a quest that is best undertaken alone: whether this be something like birdwatching, right through to solving a personal problem. If you’re up for plumbing the depths of your being, you might consider what is possibly the ultimate quest: the vision quest. Most commonly associated with North American Indian cultures, this is essentially one of life’s great rites of passage beginning with a trip deep into nature to discover fundamental truths about yourself. They basically just walked alone into the middle of nowhere and stayed there for a long time: and it was one of the most important rituals for becoming an adult. How about that?
Think of it this way: people often talk about going travelling abroad to ‘find themselves’. A laudable aim, but if you want to find yourself, why go abroad to do it? (And if you scoff the idea of finding yourself - what are you so afraid of?) I say that a few walks closer to home can still bring the fulfilment you seek.
Going alone can also be rewarding in the sense that it’s more of a challenge. You can’t carry as much so you have to be choosy about what you bring with you (I’m not naturally good at that but enjoy it when I am) and more resourceful too. It also heightens the thrill of the adventure - moving with the knowledge that if you cock up then you really have cocked up!
Of course, be safe wherever you go - if you’re going far then you should let someone know where you’re going, just in case you hurt yourself or run into trouble. At worst, you don’t want to risk serious harm, and at best you don’t want to be the dick that got everyone really worried about you when they thought you went missing, when you were actually back at home on a post walk Netflix binge.
Remember: happiness isn’t really found outside. Happiness comes from inside, which is where you need to look if you want to find it. It won’t be easy, but all the great achievements never are, that’s what makes them achievements. But just as going outside is to go to a place that makes you happy, so does it create space to allow you to feel more happy. You will appreciate life all the more, if only you will and stop and listen.
I know that despite the difficulties of lockdown, all of this has helped me greatly. I still count the days until I can see all my wonderful friends again and enjoy the pleasure of their company. But, I’ll probably never have this much time to myself ever again: so I say there is nothing for it but to make the best of a bad situation. I would still count myself as an extrovert: but at least discovering my inner introvert wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
If you are in a bad mood, go for a walk. If you are still in a bad mood, go for another walk. - Hippocrates
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