Tag: Walking

Love and Hate

~ Veselin ~ 3 Comments

My daily walk was short. I captured only a few photos.

This is a palindrome sculpture in Sofia Tech Park, where I briefly visited OpenFest. I somehow missed the meaning of the sculpture the last few times I walked past it. I think it’s pretty cool, although I wish it was painted and not with this rusty color. I suspect the sculptures in the park have a shared meaning, like things are not what they look. There are other elements nearby with a clear dual meaning.

For example, this is either a violoncello, or a piece of metal that fell off, depending on the point of view. I wasn’t sure which one so went back and checked the welds – clearly welded this way, very solid sheet of steel, not broken and dented.

And and out-of-focus animal, probably a squirrel.

Blue and Yellow

~ Veselin ~ 1 Comment

I took a look at the sky this morning, and it was not lead gray.

This motivated me to do a bit more steps outside. The gallery shows a couple of landmarks from the city, complimented by Blue and Yellow.

  • The Turtle
  • Sofia University
  • The Cathedral

Crow

~ Veselin ~ 6 Comments

I saw this bird during my evening walk. It was the biggest crow that I remember, especially the biggest one staring at me. She deserves a post. Also, zero cats today.

Rain

~ Veselin ~ 6 Comments

Cold and rainy today, cheers from Sofia. We celebrate the end of a long dry period, I hope the dams get a bit of a refill.

How do I keep doing all these steps?

~ Veselin ~ 2 Comments

For the past two years, I’ve averaged more than 10,000 steps a day.

A colleague recently asked me how I stay motivated to keep up with something like this. The question wasn’t specifically about steps, but since walking is my example, here’s how I approach it. Felt like a good writing prompt.

Getting 10K steps every day isn’t easy. Each morning you start from zero. On good days, it feels like nothing. But on days that are grey, freezing, hot, rainy, when my mood is low or my feet hurt, the empty steps bar on the Health app can look like a vertical wall.

(below, steps over the last 5 days, and the weather outside with a nasty AI-generated gambling ad)

Screenshot

So, the only way I can do things like that, and the steps, is by forming and following a habit. There are days where the cats are friendly, people are smiling, the weather is nice, and I’m looking forward to doing the steps. Other days, the only thing that gets me out the door is the habit.

That habit means I don’t waste mental energy deciding whether I should walk, when to walk, or why to walk. The only challenge left is dealing with the obstacles of the day like weather, fatigue, a lengthy todo, mood, and not the decision itself.

For example, today I’ve done 5,800 steps. It’s already 7 p.m., so I’ll head out one more time to add another 1,500–2,000. It’s not always fun, but I’ve got a waterproof jacket, so I’ll be fine.