Walking has proved to be my most reliable means of finding tranquility or consolation. Walking quiets my mind and frees it to consider subtle thoughts that would otherwise be overpowered and swept away by the concerns of daily life.
A nature walk is the ideal way to restore the equilibrium of the psyche. I can enjoy my surroundings while mentally rummaging through the reminiscences, associations, and daydreams that are packed into the untidy storage unit I call my mind.
Second to the nature walk is the supermarket walk. I find that walking through the aisles of my neighborhood supermarket has a pronounced calming effect on me, a Zen-like feeling of appreciation detached from desire. I gaze upon a thousand items that I would never put in my shopping cart. I lose myself in the profusion of potential tastes and textures.
I especially enjoy strolling past the antipasto bar, which boasts such things as exotic olives (not the green ones stuffed with pimento) and those little bundles wrapped in grape leaves. Although I have never once felt inclined to purchase any of the antipasto bar's Mediterranean delicacies, I am grateful that the supermarket has provided such an appealing display for me to admire.
On weekends a tall, dignified man works behind the antipasto bar. He wears a white pillbox hat that for some reason I associate with bakers in medieval Venice. The man is the supermarket's authority on expensive cheeses. I have often wished to ask him about his shelves of expensive cheeses. But, as my only interest is in increasing my knowledge rather than actually purchasing his expensive cheeses, it doesn't seem fair to waste his time. Still, I find it reassuring to stroll past him during my supermarket walk and know that I could get his expert advice if I ever hankered after some stinky foreign cheese.
Shakespeare made use of many images from nature. Imagine what he could have done with images from the supermarket. He gave us this (from Sonnet XVIII):
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
...
But he could have given us something like this:
Shall I compare thee to a produce aisle?
Thou art more bounteous and better stacked.
...
