A Plea for the Physical. #1.

There are several physical activities that make me feel more at home such as hiking than sedentary activities such as riding a subway. The reasons for this, however, are not parallel to those of the author of the essay, “A Plea for the Physical”.

As I mentioned above, hiking makes me feel more at home than riding a subway for two pivotal reasons. The first reason is due to the fresh and clean air in the woods. Unlike staying inside where fresh air is limited, hiking in the woods gives me a fresh sensation that brightens up my mood during the time period of when I am hiking. Not only this, but I think that appreciating this part of nature is paramount. My second reason of why hiking makes me feel more at home than taking the subway is because of the fear I grew from listening to scary incidents that happened on the subway. This may be considered aberrant to a plethora of people; however, it is the main reason why I tend to avoid taking the subway. Due to this, taking subways is the last choice transportation I would choose despite the fact that I am a strong advocate for public transportation.

If I were to choose between taking the stairs or the escalator, I would answer depending on the situation. For example, taking the stairs would be my ideal answer if the amount of stairs I would have to climb or descend is little. However, my decision would change if the distance I have to go gets longer. This isn’t the only factor that determines my answer, however, as taking the escalator makes me feel slightly lethargic. Many find this abnormal just like my fear of subways and ask me why taking escalators make me feel lethargic. I always answer in brevity telling them that it is just because I am self-conscious. People catch on as they realize that I am self-conscious of my weight and that I feel the need to move more which contradicts my action of taking the escalator.

The last two comparisons are sweaty workouts or watching hockey games and shoveling snow or checking my email. Interestingly enough, I enjoy all four of these activities equally. Nonetheless, if I had to choose one of these activities that make me feel more at home than the other, there is one that would be more fitting. Between sweaty workouts or watching hockey games, I would choose sweaty workouts. The reasons for this correspond to the reasons I stated above for the comparison between the stairs and the escalator. Despite the fact that I enjoy watching hockey games and occasionally let them disturb my studying schedule, watching hockey games sometimes makes me feel lazy and gives me a sense that I am wasting precious time. On the other hand, sweaty workouts give me a sense of accomplishment and pleasure; a time well spent. Finally, between shoveling snow and checking my email, I would choose a physical activity once again, as I prefer shoveling snow. Ever since I was little, my favourite season had always been winter and so spending time with snow makes me feel more at home than checking my email. Not only this, but the majority of emails that I receive are important email that are useful for me, but do not make me feel as comfortable than shoveling snow.
            All in all, I prefer physical activities over sedentary activities as shown in the examples above.