Last week, I wrote about Julia Cameron, author of the Artist Way. One of the exercises, over all these years, that I avoided like the plague, was the Artist Date. Always armed with the excuse, not a enough time, blah, blah, blah. Since my theme over the last few months has been, What If I had NO Excuses, it was time to take that leap and give myself a gift. After my enlightening encounter in the garden this weekend, I did just that. Not what I set out to do, mind you, but it turned out to be one of the most phenomenal experiences of my life YET.
Yesterday morning, I grabbed my IPOD, set it on Shuffle, and went out for a walk. I gave myself a goal to walk just a little further than I normally do. I set the IPOD on shuffle because sometimes I believe that if I let go of the control (a playlist in this instance) and let “random” things happen, I will learn just a little more.
So, I started off on the walk. The song that kicked in shortly after I started was “The Twist” by Chubby Checker. That is one of those songs that ALWAYS makes me want to dance. At first, I thought, okay run. I did for only a brief moment when something kicked in and said…NO, just walk. No attempts at running today. I noticed a “bounce” in my step, my arms swinging while I snapped my fingers.
As I reached my short walk designation, feeling pretty sassy, as I half walked, half danced my way down the road, another favorite came on: RESPECT by Aretha Franklin. That song, carried me right around the corner, and onto a different street. The next few songs, it felt like anyway, had a least one or two lyrics that seemed to speak to me directly.
Oh, another corner. As I rounded that corner, another lyric came up, and of course now I can’t remember the song or the lyric, but it was something so powerful, that tears just started rolling down my face. Here I was, smiling, half dancing, grooving with every step, and tears were gliding down my face.
As I was approaching the end of the block, Wildest Dreams by Tina Turner came on. I thought, Oh how appropriate. Perfect for this walking journey I am on. I am headed for my wildest dreams. As I looked up, I saw a Dead End sign. A slight moment of Oh No, which way do I go. I turned to the left and saw that the streets all curled back to where I just came from. I turned to the right, and saw a Not a Through Street sign. I stood there for just a moment, listening to the Wildest Dreams and said just go with it, Jules. I went to the right. As I got to the point of Not a Through Street, just around a little curve, it was another street, that I hadn’t been able to see from the corner.
Hmm.. I took that new street. It took me straight out to the park that Little Princess and I have been walking to for about a month. I had connected. TOTALLY connected. I had, for the first time, connected with my body (after just writing about how I take it for granted) AND I had connected the two short walks I have been taking for months. The path came together. It was a true feeling of being whole. All three parts merged yesterday. I was in the zone. What zone was that? The I am on my way zone!
I walked a total of 2.4 miles yesterday. (Yes, I went and drove it afterwards just to see). I know these words don’t give that feeling justice. For the first time, EVER, I was present, in the moment, all of me, including the feelings in my body. Yes, it was a moving experience. (PUN intended)
Tomorrow, I have a special guest post coming up, about Living Actively……But for today, I am off for another walk.
Have you ever had an experience like this? Please share!








WoooooHoooooo! That’s freakin’ AWESOME Jules! OMG! I’m so excited for you. That’s a HUGE thing. HUGE! Congrats. There’s something about going for walks that does that to me too. I had that kind of experience several times a few years ago when I was training for the Breast Cancer 3Day walk. Love that! LOVE IT! The song that just reached out and grabbed my heart like a vice grip was Jordin Sparks “Just Like a Tattoo”.
How great that it all came together for you! I gave you an award today on my blog:)
Major movement Jules in more ways than one!!!
How exciting is that!
I have always put my iPod shuffle ont eh “shuffle mode”. It drove me crazy at first when the same songs were always coming on in the same order & I could predict it.. then I learned it had a shuffle mode!
What an amazing, special gift. May writing about it here help you to always remember the moment and claim the experience of it again!
It’s amazing to me how “certain” songs just seem to play at the right time. What’s up wid dat? Love it. Shuffle on.
I just can’t exercise without music I LOVE IT!! The tist is a great choice of songs by the way!