Nearly nine months out of my total knee replacement, dog walking is my new superpower. Today was my first day back on the trail by my house with Lulu, and I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed having outdoor movement as an outlet and balm.
It can be such a connecting and grounding force for us human animals.
It hasn’t just been about the knee though. My other previous injuries — neck, back, ankle, elbows — have all taken turns on center stage this year. Because when one part is down, the rest have to work double time. And when they have weak points like these, eventually they can give out.
Call it compensation, a protective nervous system, structural damage — you’d be right every time.
When I think about working with people and groups and any sort of complex system, they’re a lot like this. One thing is connected to another and another, and it’s not just cause and effect. It’s a whole concert of causes and effects in a constantly shifting context that affects each of us differently.
The amazing PTs and other practitioners I’ve worked with have offered a few quick fixes, like when needling my lower back got me out of debilitating pain last week, but mostly it’s an art of holding the entire truth of a person and the system they exist and move within.
Same goes for human development and change work. It’s an art of holding the many constantly moving pieces and contexts, and shifting within and around them — watch, listen, create, adapt, watch again.
Now to watch myself: here’s public accountaiblity not to overdo this new superpower of mine, so I get to keep walking this here dog for a while.
