Am I rational?

They say clarity comes with walking. I've never believed any of that. In fact, I scoffed at those people whose constant refrain was “I need to get out there and clear my head.”

Were they magically going to find hidden treasure beneath a lonely tree stump or beside a 3-year-old's tricycle?

Of course not. It was all pure nonsense in my book.

Until I became one of those people. For the last few months, I've been taking it to the streets, seemingly walking here, there and everywhere. I just casually slid into the routine like a hand slips into an inviting glove.

It just fit - and felt - right.

I didn't even realize this musing with nature had any affect on me until one Saturday morning pow wow with my therapist. I found myself on another one of my rants bemoaning my state as a rational person.

“I'm so out of touch with my emotions,” I concluded.

“Is that working?” he asked, shooting me a look of pure skepticism.

I suppose that was his way of saying he disagreed.

“Well, you certainly can't be both,” I retorted. “What would that even look like?”

Then, like any trained therapist would, he asked why I clung so tightly to all things rational and felt that the rational route was the speediest, most efficient highway. After all, it didn't seem like I was getting anywhere. I kept driving, but the second I'd start to close in on my destination, the bright flag at the finish line would inch a little into the distance. And inch a little more. And a little farther still until it disappeared behind a giant hill covered with a mess of trees. There was no logical - see, rational thinking strikes again - way I was going to catch up to that flag.

I couldn't make it up the hill. But that didn't stop me from imagining. Imagining. And Imagining.

Is it really possible to be both? Can you be at one with your rational side and still give attention to your emotional side? And how will you know when you've found the right balance