A Brisk Jog (NJ4)


A Brisk Jog (NJ4)

This morning I felt an overwhelming sense of energy that needed to be exerted in some fashion. After giving the idea some thought, I determined that I should take a quick run around my neighborhood. I am not usually someone who enjoys running, but on this particular day I was feeling up to the challenge. 

I began my run at a quick pace, and I could feel my feet bounce off the pavement with each step that I took. The gravel from the road kicked up behind me, with the soles of my shoes and the bottoms of my feet coming in perfect contact with each other. The shoes I wore were particularly tight, and my big toe constantly brushed against the front fabric on the inside of my sneaker. My head bounced up and down with each triumphant lunge that I took forward. After about thirty minutes of running at a constant speed, I took a short lull to catch my breath. 

During this interval, I recollected the conversation we had in class a few weeks ago about Henry Thoreau. I was still astonished at the incredible feat Thoreau accomplished, by staying in isolation at Walden Pond for more than two years. Just then, I thought to myself, what if I returned home from this run only to experience a world of solitude? I have a great deal of appreciation for the people in my life, and I cannot possibly imagine secluding myself from those who love me. Although I understand Thoreau's decision to live simply in the natural world, a task such as that would seem impossible to me. 

Thoreau once expressed the idea that "not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves." On the run I took this morning, I didn't have a distinct route in mind that I planned on following. I merely started running, with no end goal in mind. Perhaps the most important thing I did this morning wasn't necessarily the run itself, but the idea of getting lost. 


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