At twilight, when the fulgent glow 

of the setting sun flickers with fleeting 
fatality, I often find solace in setting 
out, stride by stride, for a nice evening 
walk. It’s a wander of wonder. Sunsets, 
after all, in their evocation of quiet 
contemplation of celestial creation, 
alter our sense of time, making us 
meditate on meaning, prompting us to 
ponder our plight, as the night falls and 
the death of the day is at bay. 

Walking, for those of us who are able 

to do so, is an exercise of enormous 
spiritual potential, allowing us to view 
the vitality of all things around us as 
we meander through this monumental 
macrocosm of material existence. We 
might be prone to see walking as a 
rather arbitrary activity, devoid of any 
divine details, yet this could not be 
further from the Truth. 

In her book “Wanderlust: A History 

of Walking,” Rebecca Solnit describes 
walking as “the most obvious and 
the most obscure thing in the world, 
this walking that wanders so readily 
into religion, philosophy, landscape, 
urban policy, anatomy, allegory, and 
heartbreak.”

Many of us have profound childhood 

memories 
of 
walks. 
I 
still 
hold 

memories of walking through the busy 
Toronto streets on my dad’s shoulders 
at age 4, moving through the Detroit 
Riverwalk with my grandparents at age 
8 and tirelessly trekking to the bus stop 
every day at age 12. I recall the regular 
route I would take in typical teenage 
trepidation, as I trampled my way 
around corners in the cold at 6 a.m. Even 
now, I vividly maintain the memories of 
those early rises — moving with haste 
(dressing with no taste), cheap wired 
headphones on, show tunes in my ear 

going off. Those early morning walks 
were a hallmark struggle of my middle 
and early high school years. Yet they 
remain key moments in my attempts 
to mitigate my adolescent anxiety as I 
anticipated the fateful day(s) ahead. 

When we walk, there is a continuum 

of choices to be decided upon, as events 
quickly unfold much like the unwinding 
path before us. One misstep has the 
power to create major complications 
with its implications. Enchanted by the 
allure of detour we may find ourselves 
under the dictates of fate as our 
footsteps lead us astray, but ultimately 
on the way to new people and places, 
destinies and dooms.

On our walks we encounter a mirage 

of faces and fits, with a flash of sonder 
following, as we ponder the rich and 
intricate lives of those we meet on 
the streets. Walking gives way to a 
tension found in the perception of 
the self and the perceiving of others. 
An assortment of vessels enters into 
our vicinity. Eye contact, in passing, 
evokes an evanescent intimacy. We 
cross paths with close friends, new 
crushes and old flames as separated 
souls synchronizing, meshing in the 
moment, only to diverge in dissolution 
and disarray. 

Walking also carries with it a great 

particularity. We become attached to 
certain paths, certain locations and 
taking a certain path to those locations 
at specific times of day. Walking a 
favored or familiar path can evoke 
an eeriness — a numinous nostalgia 
within us as we reminisce on our 
earlier encounters in those spaces. I go 
to the Arb, and I’m reminded of all the 
instances I’ve traversed the very trail — 
day and night, alone or with company, 
sober or well …

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan in Color
Wednesday, September 29, 2021 — 7

The Venus trine Neptune 
transit might cause you 

to fantasize about 

romance, especially since 
Neptune is in your 12th 
house of subconscious. 

Venus’s trine with Neptune is 

encouraging you to explore your 
creative interests. A reward for 

the time and energy you’ve 

invested in your home and family 

life will trigger an important 

period of rebirth for you 

when the sun trines Saturn.

When Venus trines 

Neptune, you will form 

much more intimate 

connections in both your 
romantic relationships 
and your friendships.

Your mind is brimming 

with ideas, and this 
Venus trine Neptune 

transit is the perfect time 

to organize and pitch 

these creative projects in 

your workplace.

The Venus trine Neptune 

transit presents the 

perfect opportunity to 
organize your romantic 
relationships or money 

matters.

Your fantasies of love and 
relationships are running 
wild as Venus forms a trine 

with Neptune. The sun’s 

trine with Saturn indicates 

that you can learn a lot 

from elders in your family, 
and you should take time to 

talk with them more.

Now is a great time to 

transform your living space 

as Venus in your fourth 

house of home and family 

trines Neptune in your 
eighth house of rebirth.

Venus’s trine with Neptune

is all about love for you. You may 

have buried your feelings deep 
within your heart in order to 

focus on work, but now is the time 
to let your mind fantasize about a 
relationship and socialize in order 

to discover the qualities 
you want in a partner.

Venus’s trine with Neptune 
finally allows you a chance 

to relax and spend time 

getting to know new people. 

However, you’ll soon shift 
your focus back to work.

Venus’s trine with 

Neptune is making you 

wonder how you can 

show more appreciation 
to your family through 

service.

Venus’s trine with 

Neptune encourages you 
to think about your career 

goals in more detail so 
you have a much clearer 
image of what you are 

working toward.

Venus’s trine with 

Neptune allows you to 
relax and daydream of 

your ideal relationship or 
your next creative project.

By Andrew Nakamura, MiC Columnist

My perfect morning goes like this: 

I’m awake at least two hours before any 
commitment, class or meeting. I pour 
myself a glass of water and make a cup of 
coffee. I drink my coffee while snacking 
on almond-stuffed dates for energy. I 
change into my running clothes, slip 
on my shoes and make sure I use the 
bathroom. I stretch, put in my Airpods, 
hit play on my Spotify playlist and take 
off to the “start workout” command 
from my MapMyRun App. With my back 
straight, my shoulders pinched back 
and my elbows bent and stationary at 
my side, I start running. My feet hit the 
pavement one after the other, while my 
shoulders move in synchrony with my 
legs. Right shoulder with left leg. Left 
shoulder with right leg. My breathing 
soon follows as I get into a pattern 
matching my strides. Just like that, I 
enter a meditative state. With drum 
beats blasting through my ears, my feet 
against the pavement and my breathing 
steady, my mind is at peace. I feel 
gratitude in running, pride that I am a 
runner and dedication to make this run 
a meaningful one. I am interrupted only 
by my phone announcing the distance 
and speed at which I am running. It’s 
one of my favorite feelings in the world. 
Back at home, I quickly get myself 
into the shower hearing my brother’s 
“Leen you smell so bad” and my sister’s 
slightly kinder “Were you running?” 
with a hand over her nose. For the rest 
of the day, I carry a certain openness in 
my 
chest and lightness in 
my step. 

I absolutely love running. Yes, I 

am one of those people. I’m not very 
good at it, but I love it. Running has 
been an integral part of my life for the 
greater part of three years. Anyone 
who only knew me before that would 
be astonished that I am a runner. I 
tried running track in high school and 
quit after two weeks thinking that 
running was not for me. But during 
the winter semester of my sophomore 
year of college, I came across a video 
of a woman challenging herself to train 
for a marathon in 10 weeks. There was 
something very inspiring about the 
mental strength needed to train for 
and run a marathon. The runner in the 
video had trained her mind as much 
as her body to fully prepare herself. I 
remember texting my friend “I want to 
do that,” and with that text, my running 
journey started. 

For the past two and a half years, 

I have continuously fallen further in 
love with running. It got me through 
quarantining, 
MCAT 
studying, 

family arguing and countless other 
challenges. Having made it through 
those challenges and reflected on those 
experiences, I have learned a lot about 
myself through running. Here, I wish to 
share some of those lessons: 

Lesson number 1: You don’t have to 
be the best at something to claim it as 

yours.

I became a runner the moment I 

decided to put on my shoes and leave 
the house. I have come across many 
runners who don’t claim this status 
until they’ve reached a certain mileage 
or pace. To me, it does not matter how 
fast you are running or how far you 
go. If you run, you’re a runner. It was 
important to rid myself of expectations 
that force me to reject activities I deem 
myself not good enough at. Because of 
this lesson, running has opened many 
doors for me. Picking up running as 
a hobby has allowed me to pick up 
painting as a hobby as well. Nothing I 
paint could sell at a museum but that 
has never stopped me from picking up 
my brush. This brings me to my next 
lesson. 

Lesson number 2: Anyone can run, All 
you need are running shoes.

There are countless guides on the 

internet discussing which running 
shoes to buy. For me, I bought my first 
pair off the clearance rack at Marshall’s. 
Only after getting to long distances did 
I start using orthotic inserts from my 
doctor. Those same shoes stayed with 
me until my 18-mile run before I finally 
switched them out. 

Lesson number 3: Caffeine and good 
music can help 

Part of the reason that running is fun 

for me is the music I listen to. Research 
has shown that music can boost 
preparation for, performance during 
and recovery after a run. Multiple 
studies have found that listening to 
music can ease the effort exerted during 
running. When it comes to caffeine’s 
effect — both physically and cognitively 
— on athletes, the scientific community 
is in overwhelming agreement that it 
can improve performance and speed 
during runs as well as help recover 
muscles and enhance circulation after 
runs. 

Lesson number 4: You are a lot 
stronger than you think

During periods of intense physical 

activity, our bodies resort to anaerobic 
respiration, or the production of energy 
without the use of oxygen, to generate 
the energy we need. During anaerobic 
respiration, a mixture of compounds 
builds up in the muscles exerting 
activity. In 2014, researchers at the 
University of Utah injected that same 
mixture into human subjects’ resting 
thumbs. Without exerting any effort, 
their thumbs started to feel tired, achy 
and even shake. The researchers found 
that these metabolites activate neurons 
that give our muscles the sensation of 
pain and fatigue even when they are in 
perfect condition to keep exerting.

I think about that study every 

time I am struggling to push myself, 
whether it’s on a run or off. Without 
fail, I have always gained the reward of 
achieving a task I didn’t think I could 
do. When training for a marathon, 
after completing my 6-mile run, I knew 

that I could hit any distance I set my 
mind to. Every time I thought to stop, 
I reminded myself that I had completed 
a 6-mile run so I could do anything. 
If I am strong enough to run all this 
mileage, then I am strong enough to 
finish this homework assignment, have 
that dreadful conversation or ask for 
help. 

Lesson number 5: Running is not 
pretty

On any given run, I have sweat, 

mucus, spit and sometimes dead bugs 
on my face. If I have a nose bleed on a 
run, there is blood. If it’s a particularly 
emotional or difficult run, there are 
tears. My face gets red and my frown 
lines begin to show. I am in fight 
mode. Pushing yourself past what you 
think you can do is never pretty. It is 
exhausting, ugly and uncomfortable. 
But when I make it to the other side, 
the reward and the confidence gained 
from my accomplishment makes all the 
trouble worth it. 

Lesson number 6: No one can take 
that strength away from you

Once you realize lessons 4 and 5, 

you possess something that is yours 
and yours only. No matter what is 
happening in my life, when I put on my 
shoes and get out the door, I can block 
all of it out even if for just the duration 
of my run. The strength that allows 
me to run beyond my comfort is the 
same strength I carry with me in every 
challenge and that is something nobody 
else has access to but me. 

Lesson number 7: Every uphill is 
followed by a downhill

I think every runner develops an 

intuition to detect uphills. No matter 
how fit I am, uphill running is a lot 

more difficult and to be avoided at all 
costs. However, what gets me through 
each uphill jog is my certainty that 
a downhill will emerge. It gives me 
comfort that my agony will end, no 
matter how long it lasts and a well-
earned downhill will follow. I hold 
on to this principle whenever I am 
experiencing adversity — it is only a 
matter of time until it is over and I get 
to enjoy the ride down. 

Lesson number 8: Your mental health 
is intrinsically linked to your physical 
health

Many studies I have mentioned 

explore the differences in performance 
when we trick our brains to work 
harder and run further demonstrating 
the great impact our minds have on our 
bodies. 

Though people generally associate 

runner’s high with the rush of euphoria 
following 
activity, 
recent 
research 

has found that runner’s high is caused 
by receptors in the endocannabinoid 
system. These receptors are present 
in 
the 
lungs, 
kidneys 
and 
bone 

marrow 
and 
affect 
your 
immune 

response, reproductive health and pain 
modulation. Not only does runner’s high 
affect our mind and feelings, but it is 
intrinsically connected to our physical 
health. In my experience, running helps 
my mental health in the same way that 
meditation does and I feel much better 
after my runs. However, there have 
been days when I have had to skip a run 
because I was losing confidence in my 
ability to perform. Which brings me to 
my next lesson. 

Lesson 
number
 
9: Knowing 
and 

listening to your body is key to 
successful running

I 
cannot 
emphasize 
this 
point 

enough. Learning when to test your 
limits and when to rest is one of the 
most fundamental skills to build as a 
runner. It is absolutely necessary to 
continuously acknowledge cues from 
your body and mind as to how you are 
doing and trusting the messages they 
are sending. Research can guide us in 
learning what our bodies are doing at 
different points during our training but 
establishing that knowledge needs to 
happen on an individual level. Learning 
about and trusting my body allows 
me to put up boundaries and set goals 
better suited to my abilities. 

Lesson 
number 
10: 
The 
most 

important part of a fitness journey is 
finding a workout you enjoy

If you have been on TikTok or 

Instagram reels recently, you have 
seen videos that preach discipline over 
motivation. I agree with the sentiment 
— discipline establishes a regimen 
that takes the thinking out of making 
choices. Discipline allows me to run 
the number of times a week that I do; 
however, it makes a very big difference 
when I wake up excited to run and give 
it my all. It’s not to say that I have never 
dreaded a run and in those moments 
when motivation is lost, discipline 
keeps me running. On and off the 
running course, a balance of discipline 
and motivation is essential for growth. 

***At the end of this article, I would 

like to acknowledge the privilege 
allowed to me as a white-passing 
woman of color that allows me to 
pursue running as a hobby. I want to 
remember and honor Ahmaud Arbery, 
Mollie Tibbetts, Karina Vetrano and the 
countless other people who have been 
killed while running due to racism, 
sexism and other forms of bigotry.

The lessons in the stride

LEEN SHARBA

MiC Columnist

Graphic by SoJung Ham

KARIS CLARK

MiC Columnist

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

What the walk reveals

