Opinion - Now is the time to take a walk on the wild side - Kilkenny Live

It is easy to feel overwhelmed these days; there seems to be a constant flow of bad news and the sense of fear of what is to come is often all prevailing.

This week’s Budget brought little solace to people terrified of not having enough money to put food on the table or to adequately heat their home. The war in Ukraine is escalating and now the threat of nuclear war seems very real. This all on the back of a pandemic that has yet to disappear.

Sometimes in life the simplest things can be the greatest remedy. Over the years I have found walking (and on occasion running) to be one of the best ways to clear the head and recharge the body. I have walked the Camino de Santiago and have walked from Porto in Portugal to Santiago de Compostela. I have even been lucky enough to make it to Finisterre on the west coast of Galicia— the end of the earth — on more than one occasion.

Closer to home I have wandered along some of our own ancient pilgrim paths and enjoyed the magnificent beauty of the Dingle Way and the peace and solitude of St Declan’s Way as it meanders over the Knockmealdown mountains and around Mount Melleray in West Waterford.

I have gone up and down the magical path on Sliabh na mBan and marvelled at the magnificent views from the top of Brandon Hill.

As wonderful as all these walks have been some of the most beautiful are even closer to home. Often I walk along by the banks of the Nore down the Linear Park to the Bleach Weir and back through Bishops Meadows.

It amazes me how watching the river meander and flow and listening to birdsong or watching as the leaves change their colour and dance off the trees can literally still the mind and offer sustenance to the soul. Walking by the banks of the River Nore is meditation in motion.

A decent pair of shoes and a rain jacket will fend off the elements and whatever the weather you will feel the better of a daily walk. It becomes a ritual.

More often than not, I leave the phone at home, I disconnect and just enjoy the nature on my doorstep. It sounds so basic but it is a powerful antidote to a lot of ailments.

Observing the herons as they quietly perch on the banks of the River Breagagh or take flight over the Nore or watching the squirrels leaping from the trees is a mighty tonic.

We are blessed in Kilkenny to have so many walks that lead us from the city centre into nature within minutes.

The Canal Walk and the Castle Park both offer an abundance of nature and one can walk literally for miles along the Nore Valley Walk.

Around the county there are many walks for people of all ages to enjoy - Jenkinstown Park, the Millenium Woods, Woodstock Gardens, Castlemorris Woods, Kilmacoliver, Brown’s Wood in Freshford — the list is close to endless.

We cannot walk our way out of the avalanche of problems we as a society are having but it won’t do us any harm.

The autumn equinox took place on September 23 and marks the halfway mark between the summer and winter solstices. At the time of the equinox day and night or light and darkness are of equal length.

REFLECT
For now once again we have entered into the darker half of the year and it is a time to rest and reflect and perhaps walk!

There is little we can do right now to change the course of the war in the Ukraine or to reverse the spiralling cost of living. But we can take stock and see all the goodness around us.

Nature is free and is powerful and the cost of walking and running is minimal. So let’s do what we can to improve the collective mood.

After two years of a pandemic no one could have predicted what we are now facing into but what we have learned from Covid is that we as a species we are far more adaptable than we may think.

The uncertainty of what lies ahead is unsettling but life goes on and staying in the present and living by the simple mantra of taking one day at a time will serve us all well over the coming months.