YWR: Why it's good to walk in the cemetery.

Most mornings I start the day with a walk in the local cemetery.

It’s not as weird as it sounds.

It’s where I walk my dog.

I live in Central London and the nearby cemetery is more of an open space than a cemetery.

Well it’s both.

It’s also not creepy.

The mornings are hustly, bustly. The cemetery’s main pathways are filled with people on their way to work. It’s a shortcut to the tube station.

But Wallace and I seek out the quiet pathways on the edges of the cemetery, in between the trees.

It’s morning time and the day is starting, so my head is always filled with checklists of things to do.

Wallace and I stomp out our usual path. He knows the routine.

Most times my head is down. Lost in thought.

But sometimes I break out of my trance and happen to look up and notice the trees and the leaves and the season.

And sometimes I pause and look at the grave stones.

It’s an old cemetery so the stones are faded, and slightly overgrown with grass.

I look at the names and dates and wonder who these people were.

Many are from the 1800’s.

I imagine what their lives might have been like.

I imagine that they also ran around these nearby streets, busy every day, thinking about things. Completing checklists and tasks.

Until one day they didn’t.

And I wonder if at the end they felt they had lived a worthwhile life.

Or, was it all one stress after another, until suddenly the time was up?

Walking Wallace in the cemetery reminds me that eventually the time is up for all of us.

Maybe it’s a good way to start the day.

We don’t need to try and be Ghandi. We all have bills to pay, and things we need to get done.

But maybe we should be slightly mindful of whether what we are doing all day is having any positive impact, even if it is small.

Are we doing something we can be proud of?

Because when the time is up we want to know we spent it well.

Something to keep in mind while we are setting our goals for 2026.

Have a Happy New Year.

Erik