Today was a public holiday in my city, which meant there were no schools or offices open and, consequently, the city was quieter and more peaceful. It was the perfect day to walk and, above all, to explore. Temperatures can reach 40°C around midday, but spring brings something that only this time of year can offer: flowers, the delicious scents of nature, and that spectacular glow that I personally associate with hope. My days are usually pretty ordinary. Gray, boring, packed with routines and almost completely devoid of color. That is how they go from the moment I open my eyes in the morning until I finally lie down in bed again. That is why a day off becomes more valuable with every passing year.
And maybe that is why solitude has started to feel less like an absence and more like a privilege. Under normal circumstances, whenever we hear words like "solitary," "alone," or "solitude," a little alarm automatically goes off in our heads. We have been taught to fear that state of life, as if being alone automatically meant being abandoned. But this is not a philosophy lecture. It is simply a brief account of what my Wednesday morning and afternoon felt like. There was a sense of harmony that, to be completely honest, I had not experienced in many, many years. I like walking without a destination, allowing my thoughts and anxieties to surface and then, somehow, letting them leave my head for a few hours. Sometimes, perhaps, we do not need to solve everything. We just need to breathe and just survive somehow.
"Just do it!" Remember that famous Nike slogan? I have no way of proving it, but I do not really need to. I am convinced it was created by a woman, and probably by one who had been a mother and knew what it felt like to carry responsibilities with the entire world sitting on her shoulders. That is when life returns to something elemental, when the journey itself becomes the source of pleasure rather than merely a means to an end. In that sense, I am beginning to understand the mindset of people who love running or hiking. It simply feels incredibly good, you know? There is something almost primitive about walking until your thoughts become quieter, your breathing steadier, and the world stops demanding answers from you for a while.
A local park in some random city might seem like an insignificant experience. I think what really matters is how disconnected we have become from ourselves. Our lives are absorbed by a depressing routine that, when everything is said and done, may not leave us with much. Instead, regrets are often the only things that emerge from those years of sacrifice "for a better life." Haha, I am not saying that hard work is pointless. Of course it is not. But this mentality of constant sacrifice, of always postponing life for some future version of ourselves, makes me wonder how much happiness it can actually bring. Maybe there are days when the greatest achievement is not conquering anything at all. Maybe it is simply finding a quiet place, walking for a while, and remembering that we are still here.
Meanwhile, walking through a park makes me feel inspired and peaceful. It reminds me that solitude does not necessarily have to be loneliness, and that doing nothing extraordinary can sometimes be exactly what we need. There are days when life is not about winning, improving, producing, achieving or becoming someone else. Sometimes it is about walking under the sun, breathing fresh air, letting your mind wander and, for a few precious hours, asking absolutely nothing from yourself. Perhaps that is what I was really looking for that Wednesday: not an answer, not an escape, not even happiness in its grandest form. Just a little space to exist. Happy in my solitude, but never alone.
