Walking and Bravo-ing

So, I went on my phone- and distraction-free walk yesterday. The first 5 minutes were strange and uncomfortable. First of all, I just felt kind of naked without anything to hold or anything in my pockets. Just me, myself, and I. If felt like I forgot something. I also had a repetitive thought come up about what a waste of time this was. I had so much to do yesterday before we left for an overnight trip that afternoon. But I resentfully remembered the commitment I made to this blog and went on the walk anyway.

After about 5 minutes I actually started to notice new things. Presence maybe? Calm? I looked at the trees around the park much more closely than I ever had. I mean, what else did I have to do? I walked down a street I had never walked down before and saw some really houses I’d never walked by. I actually said hello to people who walked by instead of being buried in my own little world. Many of the thoughts that popped into my head were repetitive, boring and not really that interesting. But a few thoughts were different! As I was walking through our beautiful park, I just became awestruck by the years of work that must go into creating a park and how I just take it for granted every day. As I walked past kids, older couples, moms pushing strollers, I had this overwhelming feeling of comradery and kinship with these other human beings. We’re all just doing the beset we can, living our lives separate but together. That thought was pretty cool! So anyway, the walk went from uncomfortable to downright pleasant by the end.

I also had one more thing to mention today. I am a big fan of all things Bravo (Real Housewives, Southern Charm, Vanderpump Rules, etc) and consider it a very guilty pleasure. I have hardly watched any recently and wasn’t missing it much surprisingly. However, Thursday night rolled around and there was a new episode available of a show that I really love. Thursday night just also happens to be the end of my work week, and I have historically “treated myself” to Bravo and some yummy snacks to celebrate. I asked my husband if he thought that watching the show would fall under the category of instant gratification. He said, “Well the goal is to reduce, not totally stop right?” To that, I really don’t have the answer yet but that was enough of an excuse for me! My little dopamine monster reared his little, annoying head. So, I happily watched…and snacked…and screwed around on my computer…and snacked. It became mindless and for sure instantly gratifying. So, I learned a valuable lesson I suppose. For now, watching Bravo as a “reward” leads to other mindless behaviors since their all associated with each other at this point. I don’t even know if I’d enjoy these shows without being on my computer/phone and snacking to be honest! Hmm, maybe that would be an interesting little experiment. Okay, that’s all folks! Happy Saturday!