Where do you look when you walk? Do you look at the path ahead of you or down at the ground beneath your feet? What about left and right? Do you look around you as you walk, turning your head farther than is unconsciously comfortable to see the path beside you? Do you turn around and look behind you?
During Golden Week this year I went for a bike ride along a path that I have traveled frequently by car. As I rode, I noticed the depth of detail that was lost when traveling by car. My eyes took in sights that they had not before: small shops with different wares, interesting pathways that seemed to lead to nowhere, temples just beyond the foliage, workshops hidden behind a three foot path just off the road and more. My ears were amazed to hear the sounds of women and children laughing as I passed houses, train wheels clicking on the tracks as they whizzed by, crickets chirping in the fields, frogs croaking, and insects buzzing in the greenery. Even my nose played a part in my observations, reminding me as I passed fisherman bait stores, honeyed flowers and freshly fertilized fields alike that each place has a distinctive smell -all of which are experienced for only a fraction of a second as the car zooms by, and even then only if the window is down or the AC is on. My senses were in such a state of excited rapture that I was overwhelmed by it all and quite lost myself to the pleasure of simply experiencing my environment.
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| A shrine on the side of the road that I'd never seen before. |
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| Where does this road go? What was the tattered flag indicating? |
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| One of the views to the left. |
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| Koinobori swimming in the breeze. |
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| A metal workshop that was abandoned for the day. Guess who went exploring? |
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| Crows feasting in a field of flowers. |
Later that month I went for a hike behind a temple to a place I’ve affectionately dubbed, “Saiki’s Fushimi Inari” due to the winding staircase with tori gate arches leading all the way up the mountain. As I walked, I was again reminded of how much is missed when one travels too quickly or does not take note of their surroundings. Had I not walked all the way around the temple, I would never have noticed the tiny forgotten staircase with its deteriorating steps covered in fallen foliage and the tori gates which littered the path, standing high above it or fallen over from rot and lack of attention. Looking right and left I discovered all manner of interesting paths and sights, finding large abandoned tori gates which were once part of a different path, and discovering small shrines hidden beneath a blanket of leaves and fallen branches so that only a fraction of them peeked out from beneath their multicolored veil. On a whim, I turned around to look behind me. What a difference one’s perspective makes on how one views an area! Though I had walked up the trail, the path I looked back upon did not look the same from the top looking down. It was incredible to consider that simply by changing my perspective, my perception of the area had been enriched and made more complete. Not only did I know what the path I was on and ahead of me looked like, but I could also recognize where I had been.
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| The path ahead of me. |
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| The path behind me. |
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| The abandoned tori gates, rotting next to the path. |
Walking is often when I realize most how little attention is paid to my surroundings. The process of a simple walk is an appropriate metaphor for how one lives and problem solves, I discovered. I am so often looking forward to where I want to be, or taking note of where I am stepping, that I rarely consider the surroundings behind and beside me. Opportunities can be missed in the blind pursuit of that which I think are wanted, and in focusing only upon the present. Improved understanding of situations, my life, thoughts and dreams can be had when time is taken to focus on the 360 degrees surrounding them. There is always more detail than we think.
If I think of problems as the point directly beneath my feet with the future ahead, the past behind, and different opportunities, options, and opinions to the right and left, problem solving becomes a lot easier to grasp. If I only look in one direction- ahead or down- I can lose focus on everything else around me. The solution might be available, but I don’t know that because it’s behind me or to the side. Taking a full observation of my surroundings might not be possible due to the continuously changing flow of time and events; however, getting a general sense is possible. Taking time to look around and gain a fuller picture of where you are, literally and figuratively, provides a fuller picture of your environment and situation than focusing upon one point provides
Now, granted there are situations where looking in only one direction might be what’s best. Sometimes looking backwards will hamper progress, or listening to the opinions on either side will cause confusion. There are times when it isn’t appropriate to get the full picture, or doing so is detrimental. I will not deny this. It’s not possible to consider your complete surroundings every moment that the sun shines; indeed, if you did so you would proceed at such a slow pace that you would scarcely move at all. Insofar as problems are concerned, perhaps asking for advice from friends and family is more helpful than looking backwards at one point, whereas at other times it’s more advantageous to look to yourself and shut out the other opinions to find your path. Each situation is unique, and should be approached as such.
If you’re like me, and it seems like you’re walking down the same path you’ve always been walking or you don’t know why you’re going the way you are, perhaps you should take a look around you. Doing so will not only give you a broader perspective of where you are and how you got there, but what your options are from there on out. Maybe you’ll find a path to your left, or a small shrine that you passed. Maybe you’ll look down and realize that you’re about to step onto a snail, or look up and realize there’s a beautiful spider web overhead. As I walk my head is constantly turning, my eyes are always searching, my ears are listening and my nose is open. I try to walk in a constant state of awareness and openness so as to get the most out of my experience. It’s a little more difficult to live like that, and I often find myself focusing too intensely on one direction, but it’s a good reminder to take a moment, breathe, look around and bask in the incredibleness of my circumstances.
This is how I try to walk through life. How about you? How do you walk through life?
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