According to Graham, when you make walking an art, “you get into an air that is refreshing and free. You liberate yourself from the tacit assumptions of your everyday life.”

I’m guessing it is not an accident that most artists are libertarians (and I’m not talking about politics). I mean artists tend to be free spirits, free from the expected norms of culture and convention. Most even dress differently.

Graham says it is so for the hiker as artist. He doesn’t have to walk how or where others walk. She can have a time table or no schedule, and can change it when she wants. But, according to Graham, breaking free of accepted norms (imposed by others or one’s own internal critic) is not easy. In fact, it begins with a conscious act of rebellion.

See my next blog.