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One Step at a Time
About Being Stuck and Taking a Stroll
Have you ever heard of the Peripatetics?
They were a school of philosophy founded by Aristotle in ancient Greece, and they were called “Peripatetics” because they used to walk around the Lyceum while discussing philosophy.
- from the Greek word “peripatetikos,” which means “walking about” or “strolling”.
Walking was not only a way to exercise and refresh their minds but also a way to stimulate their thinking and generate new ideas.
In the creative process, it’s common to hit a wall, where ideas feel stagnant and thoughts loop endlessly in a confined space. It’s like being trapped in a room with no windows, where the air feels stale and the energy, drained. In these moments, there’s a desperate need to break free, to open a door and let in a gust of fresh air that can revive the flow of inspiration.
Sometimes, simply changing the environment — working from a library or a café — can provide a temporary escape. But often, more active measures are needed to truly shift perspective and rejuvenate the mind. This is where the age-old technique of walking, as the peripatetics practiced, comes into play. Moving through space, and letting thoughts roam free with each step, can lead to the kind of breakthroughs that sitting still can…
