Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was.
There’s something about a long weekend that somehow makes the week preceding it feel unfathomably long also. For that reason, and because we are entering into the darkest days of the year ahead of winter solstice, I am keeping this short and suggesting one simple tip.
Go for a walk.
This is not a revolutionary idea, in fact it might just be oldest idea in human history. But as each winter arrives, I understand more and more why my mum would drag me along on her daily walks when I was little.
For those who are able to, a walk is the first step (ha) to solving every problem. Part of it is the walking, the movement, the forced breathing. The other part is the air, the space, the sun. Everyone goes through the same cycle when it comes to basic, trite advice such as “go for a walk”. First, it seems fine and reasonable to try. Then it feels patronising, as if all of my very complex and unique problems could be solved with child’s play. And then, after extensive and expensive therapy, the realisation that yes, going for a walk and eating a vegetable is in fact very important and useful in order to survive the dark, dreary days of June.
So this long weekend, go for a walk. And while you’re walking, listen to the first episode of Fury of the Small, our new narrative Dungeons & Dragons podcast. It’s the perfect accompaniment to looking at trees and grass and even if you’re unfamiliar with the game, you’ll have the joy of listening to people do something they absolutely love and be really good at it.
And if you really aren’t convinced to walk, read some of our best essayists wax lyrical about their own relationships with walking (and swimming). If ever there was a time to reconnect with ourselves and nature, it’s now.
In her late 50s, Anna Sophia I discovered long-distance hiking – and woke up to a new life infused with the rhythms of nature.
I swim for my sanity through summer, winter, dawn and dusk
A mental health battle in 2020 led Shona Riddell to embark on an eye-opening journey of wild swimming – the kind that doesn’t cease when the weather turns cold.
Walking in isolation
Dougal Rillstone wrote about walking while In MIQ, and how “a good walk can save a person, now more than ever”.
Anna Rawhiti-Connell finds freedom in being really shit at something, but doing it anyway.
I found peace by taking the plunge with Hinemoana, writes Leonie Hayden.
The stories Spinoff readers spent the most time with this week
- A certain blue British dress inspires Anna Rawhiti-Connell to argue that it’s twee to pretend that fashion and politics aren’t intertwined
- Hayden Donnell braves an Auckland Council debate on upzoning to discover councillors trying to sabotage the City Rail Link
- An even grumpier Hayden Donnell threatens to emit a supersonic howl of despair if the superannuation eligibility age goes up
- Why is a proposed change to glyphosate (or Roundup) residue levels so controversial? Shanti Mathias explains
- A 45-year-old tech worker fights “lifestyle creep” in this week’s cost of being
Feedback of the week
“On February the 6th I observe Bob Marley’s Birthday”
“Super validating response, so undefensive, about the emotional unavailability of kiwis. The culture is emotionally repressed and shame-based, locking people into the most superficial and distancing ways of communicating. The evidence for this is the culture’s alcoholism and high suicide rate (according to UNICEF recently the highest teen suicide rate in the OECD). Get thee to a psychotherapist Kiwis! Free yourselves from shame and fear of intimacy.”
“Your friendly festival driver here. My name’s spelled with a J, but that’s ok. That drive to stage door may have been one of the most thrilling adventures of my career – I won’t be forgetting it anytime soon. – Jillian.”
