Macaroni

One of my favorite things about running is that I think about everything and nothing at the same time. This is why I find running highly therapeutic at times—I realize when I finish that I had essentially thought about nothing the entire time, yet I feel like I have processed a great deal of information as well. I cannot usually recall a conscious thought, but the world always seems to make a little more sense than it did when I started. I guess you could call this conscious dreaming, in a way.

                As you can probably guess, I ran instead of walked for this walking blog. I went to Rancho once again. You guys are probably getting tired of me mentioning this park every other walking blog, but I can’t help but go back when I have the time. I tried to stay slightly more aware of my thoughts during this run, although this was rather difficult because they bounce around so much. I was reminded of a game I used to play with my best friend in high school called Macaroni. When we became bored (this occurred with an unusually high frequency in our freshman geometry class), one of us would flip to a fresh page in a notebook and write down a word at the top of the page. Then the other would write the first word they thought of when they read the first, and the other would respond to that word, and so on. It could be pretty entertaining, let me tell you. We named the game Macaroni after a particularly funny game that ended with that word. Anyways, as I ran, I equated my thoughts to a game of Macaroni—flowing naturally from one topic to the next.

                I thought about autumn, trees, weddings, my old friends, airsoft games, dogs, my ex-boyfriend, camelbacks, relationships in general, the fact that I had only written the introduction of my argument paper, the changes in my life since college started, water, my own breathing, time, pathways, music. Oh, and my hatred for hills, but that was only when I was running up one. I’m sure there were plenty of other topics that I can’t remember. Some of these were inspired by my environment—autumn, the trees, dogs, water, pathways. Many others were about people and the things they like and their effects on my life, which is one of my favorite things to think about. Music is another big one. I love to listen and think about the lyrics. I feel like music turns my surroundings and my life into a moving, breathing poem. It’s a reminder that the world is beautiful.

                When I finished the run, I got the “back-to-reality” feeling. This wasn’t the best feeling in the world, but I realized this has been the best walking blog so far. I know I’ve had a truly successful break from routine when I don’t want to go back in the slightest.