In the big city one will find everything constantly in motion. Trains rumble along their tracks, bikes whiz through stalled traffic, cars attempt to inch forward during rush hour, garbage trucks work their way to clear the streets from piles of trash (whether in bins or bags), police officers patrol neighborhoods, people hurtle along on sidewalks lost in their own worlds; everything is in motion towards some end.
There is a certain deliberation in such movement: a focus, a purpose, which inadvertently makes it mechanical. Such movement, unlike the walk or stroll, is neither therapeutic nor calming as it does not free the mind to wander but restricts it to the focal point of its purpose: the destination. Along with the sensory stimuli around us - the noise, the motion, the sights and lights - we are thrust into a world not conducive for the state of contemplation, robbing us of the presence of mind to ponder over anything else.
Walking, on the other hand, has no destination in mind. One is driven only by whim and a mindful attitude. While in Finland for an artist residency I would go for a morning stroll to begin my day. Several times I had to dash back in to jot the ideas down that would come rushing into my mind (since it was too cold outside I did not bother carrying a notebook and pen to write with). I found I could achieve stasis of thought and mind while walking in that serene environment, which in turn aided in the process of brainstorming.
I dug up an article that provides some interesting insight on this. Walking regularly boosts our ability to form connections and in memory recall due to growth of cells and neural pathways, all because the brain gets more blood, and hence oxygen. I'll just let you read the article. It will do better justice in explaining the research rather than me paraphrasing what has already been written: Why Walking Helps Us Think by Ferris Jabr
Although one can be mindful and stroll through a city to help unfog the mind, I feel it requires a concerted effort to tune out the plethora of stimuli that attempt to steer our attention away while also trying to be present. At times we need to steal moments back from our day-to-day lives, like when waiting on a bus or train so that we may ponder, contemplate, and find that momentary solace.
Being on the road - constantly moving from one point to another - feels the same to me as it robs me the time to contemplate. Writing this blog helps bring things back together, to go over what I have talked about with people I have met, the things I have heard (and overheard), and experienced along the way. But at times I wonder if I am giving myself enough time to figure things out: where I am going and what I ought to do.
But maybe it is not important for me to figure everything out just yet. As much as my cultural inclinations poke at my mind, time and again, to sort everything out and move towards a comfortable and settled life as quickly as possible, there is another part of me that urges not to ruminate too much and hasten a process that needs time to develop and find its course.
I let my career go along a similar trajectory of free flow, which brought along discontentment as I soon lost track of what I was trying to achieve. I do recognize I cannot allow myself to let things go their own way interminably as I know no epiphany shall miraculously arise that would help me make sense of everything.
Yet I feel for now I should let it be: to let this journey leave tattoos of experiences all across my mind and body until I arrive on the other side. Perhaps then I will be able to take a deep breath, go for a walk into the woods and contemplate life with a new outlook and appreciation, and a clarity that may not come during but only after everything has come to pass.
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The featurelessness of the Ka'abah is symbolic of this non-representation, and an affirmation of the monotheistic creed. And particular to Islam, its veiled-ness symbolizes the unknowability, the ineffability, and hence the inability to represent or depict Allah.