I woke up on New Year’s morning 2015 with an idea that refused go away quietly. I can be quite reclusive, especially in the winter when England’s cold and damp weather drive me deep into my cozy hermit cave. In considering what I want for myself and what word I might choose to guide my year, I considered some of the obvious-to-me words and phrases: showing up, growing, listening, connecting, colour, vitality, all of which are qualities I want to invite into my year, but none of which express the reality of my bigger picture. Then it hit me that of all my new year resolutions, the one I really want to keep is my promise to go for a walk every day. Every day. No rules, no step goals or external demands, just a practice of walking, every day, no matter what.

Spiritual practices have always been a passion for me, and keeping this resolution will clearly be a spiritual practice. I don’t want it to be drudgery, however, I want it to be a fun and energizing practice, something to love as well as being good for me. It began to dawn on me that walking in the world goes a lot deeper than just taking a daily walk. It prepares me for my next pilgrimage, it keeps me healthy and active, it connects to my knitting (I knit socks), my labyrinth work (I walk labyrinths), and my writing (walking is recommended for stirring the creative fires). Even more, a daily walk will take me out of the house and into the world, every day — which is a really big thing to my Hermit Self!

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this is actually what I am proposing for my year: 365 days of going out into my world. Hence, this blog. My “word” for 2015 is walking in the world, and this blog is my gift to both myself and my readers. At the end of the year, I will have a record of my year as seen through my daily walks, wherever I happen to be (and we have lots of good travels planned), and hopefully I will have told some good stories and shown my family and friends what my daily life is really like. I won’t necessarily post every day, but I will walk every day, and I will post frequently. I guess my secret dream is that maybe a few other people will make similar resolutions and share their thoughts or images in their own blogs or Facebook pages, and together we’ll grow stronger and fitter and closer.

This won’t be my usual sort of blog — I want it to be more of a sketchbook or playground where I can show up just as I am, sweaty armpits and all. This is me, without my makeup!

Walking is good for the soul, for all manner of reasons. I hope you will join me as I explore my year and my world with my walking shoes!