Manifesto for a Good Life

Steve and Megann, taking a walk

Walk. Eat. Live.

Walking is a big part of our lives – we’re pretty committed around our house to get around by foot as often as we can. Getting around the village, town, or city where you live on foot, lets you slow down, get to know your community on a whole different level, appreciate your surroundings, meet your neighbours, and feed your soul. It helps you appreciate things in a different way. Funny enough, when we moved to the country, there was actually less walking (although there was plenty of physical work), because there was nothing to walk to. So now we look for opportunities to make sure we are walking with purpose, whether it’s to a class, or meeting clients, or shopping.

We also have a decided leaning toward food cooked at home, and to saving money while doing it. There are lots of pluses to a plant-based diet, so you’ll find lots of veg-friendly options, although we aren’t vegan. If you are, you might try Louise Spiteri‘s blog. At our house, we try to keep it healthy, local, and budget-friendly. We are zero-waste inclined (so is Anne Marie Bonneau), so even our downtown condo makes recycling and composting part of our routine. A lot of the time cooking around here is more method and proportion, so not everything will have a recipe here, sometimes just instructions to get you started.

When I started blogging about local food, it was kind of a novelty movement. We got into walking in a big way, as part of that idea: what does local mean? We used to start every day with a walk; many days still start that way. But as we’ve been aging, I, in particular, found I was getting weaker, and that bothered me. It’s not necessary, and it can be one of the things that puts you at risk for an early demise, or at least will stop you from doing the things you love, sooner than needed. So aquafit entered the routine. And yoga re-entered. And now, strength and balance classes. For me, I’ve also been limiting my alcohol. Mostly, I don’t drink, although I might have a celebratory beverage now and then. All of that is intended to help us live longer, and better, and to continue enjoying how we live, for as long as possible.

That’s it in a nutshell. My manifesto: Walk. Eat. Live.

What do you think?