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Walking, Dreaming & Joy Planning 🌿✨

A reflection on a family walk through Wissahickon that blended intention and spontaneity—showing how joy planning creates space for movement, connection, and gratitude.

DATE
March 16, 2025
AUTHOR
Desmond Upton Patton, PhD
READ
3
 min

Walking, Dreaming & Joy Planning 🌿✨

Today, my husband, pup, and I took a long walk through Wissahickon—a beautiful Philly trail lined with towering trees, a flowing river, and plenty of space for walking, running, and biking. In the summer, you can picture families gathered on benches, friends laughing, people simply being together.

We were all doing our own thing, but together. Jesse, our 4-year-old Black Mouth Cur, found a stick way too big for his mouth and flung it around haphazardly, grinning the entire time. When he dropped it? He just picked it up and kept going—probably a lesson in resilience right there.

J.J. was in his element, snapping pictures, watching for wild animals, and—most importantly—managing Jesse on our long walk (which, honestly, I think he enjoys more than I do).

As an Aquarius, it doesn’t take me long to zone out and dream. Walking over the rocky trails, I felt grounded, connected, grateful for my small but mighty family. And it turns out, there’s science behind why these moments feel so good—spending time outside has been linked to lower stress, increased creativity, and greater well-being. 🌱 (Kuo, 2015).

Today, my joy planning had layers—family time, movement, dreaming. Some moments were intentional, others were pure serendipity. And that’s what makes joy planning special: you create the container, and then let the magic unfold.

So, what’s on your joy plan for the weekend? ✨

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