The path of most resistance
We do these things not because they're easy but because they are hard.
This is the edge of my road at home, a narrow cobbled and uneven strip down each side of the road, a gentle gradient down towards the sea to manage the winter rain.
Over the last few months I’ve been conscious of two recovery aspects. First, my brain has taken quite the beating this last year or two and needs all the rehab and exercise it can get. That means a mix of logical, creative and physical thought processes to rebuild neuroplasticity and grey matter and especially anything that marries these things up. Better still, activities that push thoughts and brain activity to cross the mid-line. I realised on a daily walk that this path gives me exactly that opportunity and more every day.
By choosing to walk on here every day I’m pushing the optical feed and the sensory muscle feedback to work harder together, process a little more. I’ve also been on and off steroids for the brain swelling, a kind which can cause some muscle wastage especially around hips, thighs, glutes etc. Walking this path requires constant assessment of the surface, marrying that to the physical feedback and also constant micro adjustments from knees, ankles etc - all simple and consistent daily rehab work. Apparently the steroids not only reduce some muscle mass but they also go after the fast twitch fibres first so those that directly after your sense of balance and stability, which again makes this a great rehab exercise.
As always, sharing for the twin reasons of journaling being a recommended activity for a bunch of mental health reasons but also because I’m learning plenty here that might benefit of others on this path.
Finally, since this is the year of AI this post also gets a little AI image I had fun generating to carry the message further and also that fits the Regency architecture vibes of my area.
