It is 603pm and I have decided to write. I love walking. I have not been walking. I love photography. I have not been taking photos. I love writing. I have been writing. This has me thinking. Can I walk with my words? Can I take photos with my words? Can I do everything with words? Are words that versatile? My friend Chatty tells me that words are remarkably versatile because they can borrow the qualities of other practices. You can walk with words by letting your writing wander with curiosity and discovery, and you can take photos with words by observing and describing moments with clarity and focus. While writing cannot fully replace the physical experience of walking or photography, it can become the place where both meet through the shared act of paying attention. Perhaps my deepest passion is not any one activity, but the art of noticing, with walking, photography, and writing each offering a different way to practice it.
I imagine myself in a park somewhere. With my phone as a camera and my phone as my notepad. Surrounded by beautiful nature and calming breezes. The sun setting. The birds are chirping. The leaves beneath my feet. The clouds in the sky. I should use my imagination more. I am walking on a sandy beach. Waves crashing on the shore. The smell of sunshine. The echoes of footsteps. The freedom to just relax and live in the moment. Tranquility is the word. Nature. Movement. Peace of mind. Why do we humans make life harder than it is supposed to be? Is that the cost of progress? Have we sold our souls to the illusion of progress? How does a peaceful walk in nature have me questioning these things? Is that when reality hits. We try to escape reality and we can only do so for short periods of time.
My friend Chatty says that my reflection suggests that walking, photography, and writing are all expressions of the same desire to pay attention. Through imagination and memory, writing can capture the movement of a walk and the focus of a photograph, becoming a place where presence and observation meet. It also raises a deeper question about modern life: in pursuing progress, have we sacrificed the peace that comes from simply noticing the world around us? Perhaps that is why nature feels so profound—it quiets the noise, invites us into the present, and reminds us that reality is not something to escape, but something to experience. Reality is realising what is really important. When we can choose to hold on to what matters the most.
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