Back

Just go for a walk | Day 8 of my 2023 Journal

Cecilie Conrad·Jan 8, 2023

Something wonderful happens when we go for a walk. And we go for a walk a lot. Sometimes there is a purpose. It could be something simple, like buying vegetables, or it could be something major, like walking to see Pompeii excavations - or something where walking is the sole purpose, like walking the Camino or hiking to a waterfall.

We walk a lot. We walk very often, short and long, with or without agenda.

In our family, it has healing powers; it creates a space for open-ended conversations and silence. We group and regroup, and we walk through many different emotions when we go for a walk. Herein lies the healing powers.

We loved walking 125 kilometers of the Camino in the fall, and we like it when we just walk a few kilometers on a beach. Like yesterday, a perfect example.

We were out to shop for vegetables with this wonderful farmer, selling his produce from his handbuild van at the harbor. Not an Instagram van, but a working van, blessed by the Love of God, I am sure of it. After the shopping, we had a sandwich, went to walk around the city to find a mailbox, and then headed for the beach to just walk in the sunlight. We bought ice cream, enjoyed the colors, the water, the sand, and the light, talked, worked through frustrations, and celebrated gratefulness. We looked at what was happening around us, met some dogs and some people, and a lot of fish and stone. Dug a hole in the sand. Called a friend.

After a few hours, we went home, lighter and happier. Going for a walk is the simplest thing, but it is not easy to let go of the agenda, of the purpose, of efficiency, and just go for a walk. Simply do it. Not to get some exercise or to see a certain monument, simply to walk, to be, to allow being.

I can highly recommend it. Just go for a walk. With some loved ones, preferably.

walk-collage

Love and light

Cecilie-Underskrift-300x133

Cecilie Conrad

#8 of my 365 writing challenge - Read them all here

Unschooling and Parent consulting, conversations, blogposts, and podcasts on family life and learning

Hi, I'm Cecilie Conrad. I'm a trained psychologist, mother of four, radical unschooler and full-time traveller. I have lived with unschooling for over a decade and help other families find their own path – whether it is about homeschooling, unschooling, or the bigger question of how you want to live as a family.

I offer guidance, conversations and talks. I call my work grandmothering – not coaching in the traditional sense, but presence, professional insight and concrete help navigating motherhood and finding your way home to your own values.

Am I the right person to help you? You can book a free discovery call, and we'll talk and figure it out.

Listen to my podcasts

I share my knowledge and curiosity about family life and learning in my two podcasts.

Da Ladies - cover
self-directed-podcast

Read my latest blogposts

Is the smartphone really ruining the lives of tweens and teens? Do we need to protect them by keeping them away from the tool? The movement out there…Read more
A morning reflection from Budapest on trusting life’s intensity, receiving what we need, and surrendering to the beauty hidden in challenges. Read more
Barcelona wasn’t sunsets and music. It was rain—21 out of 23 days of it. It was getting sick, the dogs getting sick, and working on personal projects…Read more
Street art is such a bold and brave form, throwing it up there in the shared space, creating a comment or a decoration or a critique or a combination…Read more
Chess
Most parents struggle with video games in one way or another. I hear this question all the time. Video games and "screen time" are some of the most t…Read more
Barcelona wasn’t sunsets and music. It was rain—21 out of 23 days of it. It was getting sick, the dogs getting sick, and working on personal projects…Read more
A simple travel journal about how life is, and how it was exactly when we did a focus month in France. Read more
What is the price of unfreedom? How does managerialism control our work, childhood, and daily lives? Inspired by our conversation with Dennis Nørmark…Read more
We live by the stories, we can imagine, we understand through the lens of eyes of heroes and victims and witches and kings and everyone else from the…Read more