No.73 Sunday, 15th. February 2026

Feeling unwell and sluggish this morning it dawned on me that I need to make an effort to get outdoors and walk. Exercise and other activities are not a chicken and egg conundrum: without exercise there comes a time when indoor activities – such as writing – become difficult. Thoughts remain embedded in their comfort zone deep in the brain, refusing to make the journey to my conscious mind. It is almost as if me exercising triggers them to follow suit.

I am not a person that likes to exercise in the way that most people think, which generally seems to require some form of apparatus that can, to me at least, look like an instrument of torture rather than something that can be beneficial if used in compliance with the manual. I cannot be bothered. I simply walk for half an hour or so at a time. That walk always includes a steep hill where my heart rate will get up to 140bpm or so – if only for 5-10 minutes. But it does me the world of good.

However, so far this year I have done very little walking, partly because of the weather – I lack the appropriate ‘apparatus’ in the form of waterproof outerwear – but also because I have found so many things to be getting on with indoors. Most of these activities, such as writing this, require almost no exercise at all. Housework becomes my main form of exercise.

Feeling unwell has reminded me that I need to snap out of my winter malaise. I shall regain the art of walking, and hopefully in so doing regain the art of thinking and writing.