3, 6, or 9

I love a good book recommendation, and this week my friend Rachel brought me a solid one - “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running” by Haruki Murakami is the title, and I have not yet read it but it has quickly jumped to the top of my infinite list.

Rachel told me that in the book, Haruki talks about how every day he goes for a run of either 3, 6, or 9 miles. This consistent activity serves many beneficial purposes of course, but perhaps the most potent is its symbolism of his creative discipline. Haruki tells how it is during this time that he primes his mind for the flow of the writing process that follows throughout the course of the day. The act of running is the act of setting his mind into a mode ideal for bringing beauty into this world.

Something deeply resonated for me upon hearing about this practice. It reminds me of Thoreau’s ideas about walking, and how it so stimulates the mind. He considered the best sort of movement to be like that of a camel, nature’s consummate genius of the saunter, but I think these two great minds touch the same wisdom albeit in their own ways.

To run is to remind the brain and the body that one is alive. To be alive is to create. To create is to authentically be in one’s greatest potential.

So, I’ve decided to take up the practice. On every day that I can, I will run 3, 6, or 9 miles depending on how I’m feeling that day. Today’s six felt wholly energizing, and I intend on following it with a bout of writing that, if all goes well, will lead to the next steps of my own acts of creation - and then to the first steps of the next run.

I’m grateful for the unknown blessings that this practice will bring.

Thanks Rachel, Haruki and David!