Nadine J Walters – My Life

Question for myself: What has your life been like?

Answer:
It feels like a road trip without Google Maps or TripAdvisor. Some days are smooth, some days I get lost, and sometimes the places I visit don’t live up to their four-star ratings. But it’s always an adventure. If I look closely enough, there’s always something interesting—if not outright compelling—to discover. The truth is, I have a tendency to wander.

I wander in conversation. I wander through the house daily. If you checked the step count on my Apple Watch, you’d be amazed at how many steps I rack up—just keep in mind, many of them are entirely unintentional.

When I first adopted my doodle, Andy, he would faithfully follow me from room to room during my daily meanderings. But within a year, he got wise to my ways. These days, he has a special spot where he sits, comfortably within eyesight and earshot, watching me come and go. He only gets up to search if I’ve been gone unusually long. Otherwise, he’s learned: I’ll be back in a few.

I don’t shop in stores very often—because, of course, I wander. I’ll forget something on my list and have to double back across the store to find it, and I hate hunting for things. So when I do go in person, I’m all business: I look up the aisle beforehand, head straight there, and skip the wandering entirely.

That’s why I believe grocery pickup might be one of the greatest inventions of modern life. Even so, I still manage to wander—digitally. I start my online order a couple of days in advance and add to it as things come to mind. Then I do a quick check before placing it and voila! I’ve saved myself two hours of in-store wandering.

Well, I suppose that’s enough wandering through this post for today. I started out reflecting on my life and somehow ended up in the grocery aisle. But maybe that’s the point—my life is one long, winding route full of detours, distractions, and the occasional unexpected delight.

Same old story, really. But at least it’s never boring.