Rebecca Solnit writes that “Walking is the intentional act closest to the unwilled rhythms of the body, to breathing and the beating of the heart. It strikes a delicate balance between working and idling, being and doing. It is a bodily labor that produces nothing but thoughts, experiences, arrivals.”

The streets of Kuwait are packed in the open exercise hours from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm. Walkers from all segments of society turn out en masse to take advantage of the fresh air and sunshine, the freedom of movement allowed for a few short hours during the full curfew. They move along the empty streets, swinging their arms, legs striding forward. In more crowded areas, the chatter as they walk creates a low hum and their feet a syncopation on the hot, dry asphalt, a music of movement mixed with the sound of birds chittering and the wind as it cuts around buildings and swishes through palm trees.

It’s 5:30 pm and we’re late starting today. We head out, masked and sneakered, moving into the flow of humanity pouring along the streets. People walk in small groups, individually and in pairs. Some parents with small children push strollers or straggle along next to kids on scooters or tiny bikes. A group of three young men walk abreast, none wear masks, all laughing and talking. They are the outliers though, most of the walkers wear masks, keeping a safe social distance, walking along in their own bubble of thoughts and awareness.

Not since vehicles first became common have there been so many people walking on Kuwait’s streets. There are the regular exercisers in workout clothes huffing along at jogging pace, a few nannies pushing strollers and people walking their dogs on the edges of empty lots. The vast majority, though, are unused to being outdoors, on the streets in the middle of May. The experience is surreal, dreamlike and so wonderful it’s difficult to capture in words.

What we all have in common is movement forward, one step at a time. There is no race, no pushing. We walk and talk or move along in silence, perhaps wave and smile at a neighbor from a safe, social distance. We walk to survive, to escape the lockdown of full curfew, the anxiety and fear and stress caused by this global pandemic. We walk for the fresh air and sunshine, for the freedom and pleasure of movement outside the confines of four solid walls. We walk for our health and fitness, for the slight stress on our heart, lungs and muscles that improves blood circulation and immune responses. We walk to empty our minds and to think through the problems that plague us, to feel the blood pumping through our veins and the wind, however slight, on our faces. We walk to feel alive.

And the walking brings us back to ourselves, our physical realities like swollen feet, hands hot with fresh blood, face slicked with sweat. Our eyes bright and shining from the effort of movement. We walk and are revived.