Look in all directions, that’s the secret to a good walk. 🌸

For me, walking isn’t simply about taking steps to get some exercise; that takes a back seat. It goes hand in hand with appreciating what I see around me as I take each of those steps, and in doing so, discovering things, some small, some not so small, and realising that they’re all beautiful.

I cherish every walk because each one gives me something special, whether I’m looking at paintings or sculptures in a gallery or museum. And even more so when nature is involved, every minute counts, so I make sure each of those minutes is meaningful by taking in my surroundings.

The colours, the flowers, the shades, the textures, paying attention to the sounds, there are so many of them that I don’t even know where they’re coming from; they could even be squirrels I can’t see, but it’s all nature.

To get to the city’s historic botanical garden, I have to go on quite a journey, not just by bus, but also a long walk to reach the entrance, passing over bridges, through undeveloped areas and along the road, before finally arriving at this paradise. And I can tell you it’s worth it, a thousand times over.

Once there, there are so many paths to choose from that, at first, the first few times I went, I thought I was going to get lost, but now I don’t worry about that; I just take a different path each time. In fact, the last time, I walked along a path through the trees that looked as though no one had ever walked there before, there was no marked trail. I love that sort of thing: exploring and discovering new spots to see.

A little over a year ago, I wanted to see the spectacle of the wisteria flowers for myself, but I went on a day when there were hardly any flowers left, although I managed to find a few and take some photos of them.

They’re so beautiful, with their clusters hanging from the large arbour, and then that path full of all sorts of plants, with its array of colours, and the sun streaming through the gaps in the large trellis formed by this climbing plant.

Looking up made me think of a vast spider’s web where everything is intertwined; just like in life itself, everything is connected to everything else and everything happens for a reason, a reason we may not realise at the time, but time, much like completing the walk around the gazebo, may reveal that reason to us.

It often happens to me that I go for a walk, enjoy the moment, and then, when I look at the photos I’ve taken, they inspire reflections that I often don’t know where they come from; they’re just thoughts about life, I think, inspired by the very experiences I’ve had. I always speak from my own experiences, and I love to believe that they might help someone who’s reading them.

But you can’t just look up, you can look straight ahead, behind you and down too. You can even climb stairs that might reveal surprising things, like the one you can see here. The garden is full of staircases set amongst the natural surroundings.

And speaking of looking down, we can also see these little ponds with colourful fish; we can lose ourselves in their movements as if they were creating a soothing pattern, and where the colours are the most beautiful, combined with the sound of water falling over a small waterfall.

Water is always flowing; it is never the same, just like the passing of time, which is why it is so important to live in the present. The past is already behind us and we build the future with every step, but that step was once the present. That is where the importance lies.

Water, which is life, is surrounded by so much greenery, which is health, and I love to pause for a while in places like this and take it all in; nature is the wisest and most intelligent designer there is, creating spaces as beautiful as this and adapting to rocks, steps and hills. How much wisdom there is, and how much we have to learn from it.

Looking to either side can reveal sights along the way, as we take each step, trees, plants, bushes, lakes and, of course, the sun that gives us energy. How important it is to appreciate every walk, every step we take in life.

Because life and walking can take us to places like this. A place we can walk around and, whichever angle we look at it from, it is beautiful. Depending on the position of the sun, there will be patches of shade and others bathed in brilliant light, but the important thing is to take in the whole picture, like this beautiful fountain with its shades of bright, shimmering green.

Water works wonders in life, but without the sun it would be nothing; that’s why everything is connected to everything else, because every single thing forms the whole.

Thank you for joining me on this Wednesday walk; I send you my warmest regards. See you soon.
Amonet.

All photographs are my own.