Solvitur Ambulando

I came across the Latin phrase "solvitur ambulando" - it is solved by walking - a couple of years ago, and as someone who has always taken pleasure and solace in walking this unsurprisingly had resonance for me. Then I forgot all about it, until this week.

I have often noticed how much better I feel when I am walking fairly long distances quite regularly. As a student in Newcastle I walked 10 miles most days: my flat was 2.5 miles from the university, so I walked there and back for lectures and then usually again to socialise in the evening. Most weekends a friend and I would go to the Coast or up to Hadrian's Wall, and walk then too. I had a succession of pairs of Dr Martens boots that clocked up several thousand miles each. I have never been fitter, nor more relaxed, before or since.

Back then I took it for granted: walking was a free mode of transport, and it was just something I did without really noticing. I only really noticed the magical powers of walking a few years later, when it played a big part in digging me out of an emotional trench. Since then I have had phases of walking every day, and phases when the habit has slipped, but I have absolutely no doubt that walking is pivotal to both my physical fitness and my mental wellbeing. I have noticed specific - and financially costable - benefits too: aside from saving on bus fares, I've noticed that a number of skeletal and nerve pains that normally put me on the physiotherapist's couch every few months almost vanish once I'm walking on average more than about 3 or 4 miles a day.

There is another huge advantage for me, which is that walking burns off the calories and toxins that characterise two of my other great loves, wine and cheese, both of which I consume to levels many people would think excessive.

Of course, not everyone can be expected to enjoy walking, but most people must have a comparable source of joy. There is quite a bit of news at the moment about Government trying to utilise an Index of Happiness. This is meeting with a mix of frustration from those who have long argued that happiness cannot be measured by economic indicators, and probably cannot - or should not - be quantified; and ridicule from those who think it all hippy nonsense. The latter group do have a point, though it pains me to say it, because of well-established correlations between relative income levels and key social indicators like access to health and education. In other words, the ability to pay for stuff is certainly a quality of life issue.

In any case, it seems pretty clear to me that "solvitur ambulando" could lead us to a pretty straightforward measure of happiness. Consider these two questions:

What is the thing in life you most enjoy doing?

What prevents you from doing this as much/often as you'd like?

Answering these questions wouldn't give a perfect measure of happiness, because having too much opportunity to do something you enjoy would tend to devalue it. Nevertheless, the more you think about them, the more useful these questions are. So long as you answer the questions honestly, they will reveal how you might wish to change your life to achieve greater happiness. For example, you might really enjoy making vault-loads of money, spending more time with your children, spending less time with your children, having casual affairs, getting drunk, writing poetry, raising money for charity, training for an Olympic gold medal, growing vegetables, foxhunting......The questions make no moral assumption about whether what gives you pleasure is wholesome or despicable, lucrative or frivolous. They can also get right to the heart of the barriers to your happiness, be they lack of time, lack of money, health problems, relationships, the postcode lottery or even, perhaps, the law.

Worth bearing in mind, before making a judgement about the legality of your preferred activity, that walking is not always legal (the Mass Trespass of 1926 being a notably unlawful stroll in the countryside), and much social progress has been made through protest, rebellion and direct action.

It is solved by walking.

AW.