Alcoholics Anonymous suggests that alcoholics begin each day with meditation and prayer. It does not specify a God to whom you should bow down, rather promotes members to seek out a higher power of their choosing; it’s a spiritual program, not a religious one. My higher power happens to be a family of whales in the North Pacific, but that is another story for another day.

Getting on my knees to pray is not something that comes naturally to me. Sometimes I do it but more often than not my form of meditation comes through a long morning walk. On the walk, I think about the day ahead. Sometimes I silently communicate with the whales (I’m not crazy, I swear) but mostly I just try to let my mind go blank and soak up the sounds, sights and small movements of life as I move through it in the waking hours.

Perhaps one day I will embrace a daily prayer ritual, but until then, I will walk. Here is what I noticed this morning.

Montreal’s Plateau Neighbourhood: Walk from Rue Prince Arthur north to Mont-Royal and west from Avenue Laval to Avenue de L’Esplanade.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

~ Jen McNeely

On day 1, Jen outed herself as a recovering alcoholic. On day 2, she wondered why the hell she did that. On day 3, she compares the dark days of 1999 with vibrant life in 2012. On day 4 Jen randomly meets Steven Tyler while strolling the streets late at night.