After last week’s mammoth read (thank you to everybody who read my reflections on six months of journaling through autumn and winter and stayed to the end with helpful comments), I have chosen this week to keep things very simple.

The photos here are from my early morning weekend walk which was a lovely, frosty spring morning. I even saw deer in the distance. I’m glad I get up early for these and meet my local walking friend for the one hour and 20 mins of chat and steps.

A new step for me:

Following on, as to why walking has helped me get through the autumn and winter, I have decided to place here my poem, which was submitted for the annual poetry competition of the Happiful magazine. I’ve never dared enter a poetry competition, fearing the disappointment of the 99% inevitable rejection but I’m glad I entered for two reasons:

1. Because I was serious about writing something I knew would be valuable and doing the best work I could, raising my own bar. I spent considerable time on the form, and flow after the first draft.
3. To experience the feeling that no, this wasn’t good enough in a judge’s mind, but that was OK. It does not invalidate it, or make it not an intelligent creative piece of work.

I was so touched at how Happiful (a magazine for positive mental health) replied to every one of us, not with some cliché answer but with a well-crafted thought-out response, offering encouragement and hope, saying that many of the entries would go on to find homes of their own.

 We were told that there were over 900 of us, and it was a very difficult job to select the one winner and runners up because of the high quality of the work submitted from many of the entries. This felt so genuine, not just to make us feel better. I hope mine was one of them and it has found a home here.

I look forward to reading these in the April edition to see how they differed from mine and what made them stand out to be the ‘ chosen’ ones.

The brief was to write about something that benefits your mental health:

This poem as you can see is a walk through the seasons and how indeed walking is my saving grace. I wanted the poem to build up in strength, from the autumn and the already dulling of my spirit as winter is anticipated, to the uplifting energy of the spring and summer.

To convey the feeling of flow and movement within each stanza as I walked through the months, keenly observing what was around me, and how each season offered some medicine to help my overall mental well being. The guidelines were that it had to be no more than 25 lines, minus the title. Here it is:

Walking is my Saving Grace

Autumn’s light fading, oh how I dread,

the approaching winter, legs full of lead.

But autumn colours beckon me

to put on my boots and venture out.

Golden hues and skeleton leaves of lace,

Oh, walking is my saving grace.

Winter’s light jading, nature’s sleep begins,

the pressing grey, the chilling winds.

But winter silence encourages me

to put on my boots and venture out.

Diamond dew and frosty touch to face,

Oh, walking is my saving grace.

Spring’s light calling, the dawn of song,

the heralding chorus, new life budding strong.

How spring charms entice me

to put on my boots and venture out.

My gaze is sharp and quickens pace

Oh, walking is my saving grace.

Summer light uplifting, soft foliage green,

the blooming flowers, nature’s pastel scene.

How summer emboldens me

to put on my boots and venture out.

For movement is good, a compelling case

Oh, walking is my saving grace.

@HelenMarshall November 2024

Emailing this entry to a friend and fellow writer, including poems, I wondered if the final line should have said:

‘ How walking is my saving grace to give it a final impact but breaking the pattern. I’m awaiting feedback.

I posted this on my Substack account earlier and it’s certainly been the most successful post to date there and I currently have 32 subscribers in about two and half months. It’s good to see the people who have identified with this work and re-stacked it ( shared) with comments and thoughts.

It’s a lovely community and I’m really enjoying it over there. I’m keeping this site going because of holding the domain name, and for all the other pages/references and links on this wordpress site which I don’t have on that other platform. I have put months of work into this here and my few friends who read this are not on Substack. I’m happy for the two in run in partnership with each other.

What’s next:

To follow on from this week, next week is about the word rhythm and the rhythm of life. Given poetry is central to this word, it’s another good lead on from this post. I started next week’s audio today and that was special because of what happened after the recording. Come back to find out next week. It was a great short walk.

Until then…..