Everything around me looked a little different this evening—different as in real. Yes, probably for the first time in a long time, I saw my real neighborhood—the color of the neighbor’s car, the lushness of the trees around our house, the color of basketball poles on the court. I never noticed those red curbs.

I saw how beautiful the leaves in and around the park were. I looked at them closely, touched them, and smiled. I would say I did a ‘real’ evening walk today.

When I stepped out of the house, I had my phone internet off. The number of steps I was going to walk did not concern me. I uninstalled the app last night. I did not think of calling my mom or sisters or did not want to make a call in our family group. Most importantly, I had put on my walking shoes with an empty mind. I had decided not to carry thoughts about what had happened today, yesterday, or the days before. I also chose not to think of the moments after an hour or tomorrow or the days after tomorrow.

I walked light. I walked real. For those 10 minutes, I had nothing to do but see what was in front of me. Those colorful flowers, lemon bushes, big trees—how fascinating everything around me was.

I was closer to myself this evening. Light, easy, and liberated.