10.6.2026 – man walking is own

man walking is own
pilot, sailing private ship
on his private sea

A walk is an escape, not only from the larger world and its madnesses but from one’s own immediate world: the desk and the papers on it; the household and its clamoring tasks; correspondence, conferences, contracts, shopping lists; children, parents, spouse. We need escape even from our nearest and dearest occasionally, and for a walk we have the choice of companionship or solitude.

It does not matter whether the walker’s destination is near or far, or whether he has a destination at all. He may be walking for a day, for many days, or for less than an hour. While he is walking he is a free spirit, as separate from his ordinary world as if he were on a plane, a train, a ship at sea.

A man walking is even freer than he would be on any of these, for he may choose his route at will. He may stop, change direction, or return as he came — and whenever he likes. He may note the passing scene or not, invite communication with others or not, as he pleases. He may be sociable and observant or he may walk enclosed within himself, insulated from distraction as though in a glass bubble. He is his own pilot, sailing his private ship on his private sea.

From The Magic of Walking by Aaron Sussman (Fireside: New York, 1980).