The Walking Writer

Did you see the article, “Prolonged Sitting Boosts Bad Health”?

Yup, it’s true. People who sit a lot, even those of us 
with overactive imaginations, are at an increased 
risk for disease. So what’s a writer to do?

Get in your 10,000 steps a day. Most experts agree that 
walking an average of 10,000 steps (approximately 
five miles) each day can increase health and reduce 
weight. Walking also boosts brainpower. When you 
add more steps to your day, you will increase your 
ability to add words to the page. That’s good
news for those of us trying to write 50,000 words 
this month for National Novel Writing Month! 
Here are a few tips for reaching  your 10,000 steps:

1. Take one 30-minute walk a day. I’ve worn a 
pedometer off and on for more than five years. 
The only way I’ve found to regularly hit 10,000 
steps is to take a 30-minute walk.

2. Take a walking break each hour. Get up once 
an hour to walk to the water fountain, throw in 
a load of laundry, or make the beds. Make up 
tasks just to get out of your chair and stretch
your legs.

3. Do errands on foot. If you live in a pedestrian 
neighborhood, walk to the grocery store and 
mailbox. If you live or work in the country or a 
suburb, drive to a shopping area and walk 
between stores as much as possible. When you 
go to the mall or grocery store, always try to 
park far from the door.

Writers, as you madly scribble your 1700 words
a day, also try to amass 10,000 steps a day. In 
the end, you’ll be a healthier, happier, and 
more productive writer! Promise!

Write2Transform: The Love Equation

When we commit ourselves to writing for some part of each day we are happier, more enlightened, alive, lighthearted and generous to everyone else. Even our health improves. 

—Brenda Ueland

As I caught up on email and journaling, my daughter wrote. "What are you working on?" I asked. My 8-year old answered, "I am measuring love." When Elly had finished working, she had a card for each person in the family. (You can see mine here.) "What does it mean?" I asked. Elly explained that the M was for Mom. One of the numbers stood for the love we have for each other while the other number indicated the time we spend together each day. She told me that the amount of time we spend together affects the love number. In essence, she said that the more time we spend together, the more love we have for each other. But she also assured me that the time we were apart from each other was not lost. The love number also increases when we think about each other. Elly then turned the card over and did a lot of complicated math—none of which I understood. But I think I get the gist of this love equation—put in the time and increase the love!


I certainly found the love equation to be true in my journaling project: put in the time and increase the results. After journaling for more than 40 days, I felt more connected to myself. I have a better sense of what I want from my life and each day. I know what I enjoy in life, and journaling helps me to appreciate the small blessings. Most importantly, when I forgot to journal, I missed it. On those days, I didn't feel quite as good or as connected to my life and my life's purpose. 


But what about the other benefits? In case you forgot, here's what the research says journaling is supposed to do, and how I think it helped me during the month:

*Improve memory and sleep (Yup! and Yup! I always thought that if I chewed over my life in a journal, I might lose sleep. Just the opposite happened. By writing it all down, I was able to let go of difficulties and ruminate less. Of course writing stuff down also meant I remembered things better.)

*Boost immune cell activity (Except for one nasty bug, I escaped the sniffles and such that wound their way through our house.)

*Speed healing after surgery (Thankfully, I didn't get to test that one.)

*Increase general feelings of well being (Yes!)

*Support you in achieving your goals (In the short term, yes. I found that jotting down daily goals made me much more likely to achieve them.)

*Increase longevity (I'll let you know in 80 years or so!)


I could write much, much more about each of these benefits. And, I will. I plan to do more write2transform projects and blog posts in the future. I'll be back to tell you more about how it went.


Until then, happy writing!