When was the last time you went for a walk without earphones, without scrolling on your phone, and without company—just you and your thoughts?
I’ll be honest: for me, it had been a long time. Like many of us, when I walk, I usually have something filling the silence—music, a podcast, or my own racing thoughts. But recently, I was reminded how much we miss when we’re constantly “plugged in.”
And it all started with a walk in the park with my two-year-old.
What My Toddler Taught Me About Listening
One early morning, we went for a short walk. I was doing what most parents do—I took out my phone to snap a few pictures of him. I wasn’t completely switched off; my mind was half on him, half on the phone.
But my little boy was in his own world. Every sound caught his attention. He’d stop, tilt his head, put his ear out and say:
"Do you hear that?"
Sometimes it was the soft rustle of leaves in the breeze, sometimes a hidden waterfall in behind the trees. Things I hadn’t even noticed until he pointed them out.
It struck me how naturally children notice the world, how they hear and see everything we’ve tuned out. They’re present in a way adults have forgotten how to be.
The Walk I Took By Myself (And What I Learned)
The next day, I decided to go on that same route by myself. No earphones, no company, just me. I wanted to really listen, to notice all the things he had noticed.
And I did—at least at first. The layered sounds felt almost new: the distant chatter of birds, the crunch of my steps, the rhythm of the wind as I walked.
But here’s the honest part: I still ended up taking my phone out.
The idea for writing this blog post popped into my head almost immediately, and before I knew it, I was typing notes into my phone. I didn’t even wait until I got home—I couldn’t. My brain jumped straight into “capture it now” mode, and I just followed it, almost without thinking.
But Look What That Walk Did
And yet… look what it did.
That walk, that space, sparked this. It sparked an idea because, for a few minutes, my brain wasn’t busy thinking about anything specific. It was just walking, just listening. There was room for an idea to grow—and this was it.
It made me wonder: if one quiet walk can spark this, what could more of them do? Maybe more walks, more listening, and more space to just be, could open up even more ideas.
Why You Should Try It Too
Even if it’s hard, I think it’s worth trying—because that quiet, phone-free, earphone-free time is rare, and it changes the way you feel.
You notice more. You breathe differently. And if you’re walking with kids, you get to hear them in a way that’s almost magical.
So try it—just once this week. Leave your earphones at home, keep your phone in your pocket, and really listen. To the birds, the trees, your own footsteps—and maybe, like me, you’ll notice how much you’ve been missing.
And who knows? Maybe your best ideas are just one quiet walk away.
Your Turn
When was the last time you went for a walk and just listened? If you try it this week, I’d love to know what you noticed. You might be surprised at how much the world has been saying all along.