“There was a time when it was believed that everyone was the same – animals, birds and humans. It was believed that a creature or human could change from animal to bird, human to animal, bird to animal. It was also believed that with the change, animals and birds had the power to speak”.

~ Edward Nazon

It is extraordinary to me that since my trip to Miami in January, I have been walking daily.

Long walks, sometimes briskly and sometimes leisurely. Cold days. Snow days. Rain days. Fog days. I walk.

I walk in one of Toronto’s most beautiful park areas, with rivers, creeks and streams.

I walk and see the horses at the stables. I walk up hills. I walk.

I walk for anywhere from 45 minutes to over an hour.

I walk.

For years I have been watching people walk. Noticing how effortless it seems to them and thinking how most people take walking for granted. It’s just something the body can do without thinking, until it can’t.

For years the pain plagued me, saddened me, and made me more and more immobile.

In Miami we walked everywhere and we biked for hours at a time. It was the most active I had been in years. Every day I urged myself on, ignoring how my hips resisted. But, overnight I became determined that I needed to take action now. So, I kept on, and I kept on when we got home.

I’ve been working with a chiropractor who has created a list of hip stabilizing exercises and foot drills to support me. And, as I dove into my Canada Legacy series, first the Yukon piece and having just completed the Northwest Territories – Jewels of the Northwest, I found myself consumed and being changed.

In the walking, I feel connected and I connect to the land and piece before me. It informs me and it dreams me, and the paintings are flowing in a way I find so rich and rewarding.

Now, I wonder what Nunavut will bring…

Kiernan