First Entry - Go Outside After Class

After class on Tuesday, I went on an hour-and-fifteen-minute outdoor run at Trinity. Partly because I needed to move after sitting for so long, and partly because being outside gave me something to keep my focus on. The first week back is always a rough transition for me, as I have to get my entire life onto a schedule I don’t maintain over break. Running has changed the way I view the outdoors.

I used to run on a treadmill (unless the day felt too beautiful to miss), but I quickly realized that I despised it. It took the joy out of running, and the exercise didn’t feed my soul. I felt like a hamster on a wheel. Running outside is no longer exercise in my mindset; it’s for the pleasure and joy of moving my body. I like to think my brain doesn’t know why I’m smiling, only that whatever I’m doing feels happy. So I let myself smile while running when no one else is around, though doing it the entire time might feel a little unsettling. 

Being outside changed things for me. There are the obvious sensations: air on my skin, the rhythm of my breath, the sound of my feet hitting the pavement. But as the run progresses and I start thinking less about those things, my attention drifts to the trees lining the path, how nests are exposed in winter, how light filters through the branches and lands on the ground where squirrels play.

What continues to surprise me is how my thoughts slow as my body stays in motion. I stop thinking in quick, hurried fragments about what I ought to be doing, and my mind moves into quieter, longer thoughts. I like to take my music out at this point and just be. Even in urban environments, nature makes itself present. 

By the end of my run, I thought I wouldn’t have much to say for this blog post. But I realized how rarely I give myself time outside without an agenda. Go outside to journal. To run. To walk. To call someone. What if just going outside was the agenda? Running gave me a reason to be there, but the environment gave me space to notice. Nature quietly shapes how we move, think, and feel, so maybe nature should be on the to-do list too.

Location: Fort Worth, TX, USA

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