Cam was three miles in when someone said it.
He’d been asking what self-love actually means to people, and one of our walkers in his early 30s paused. Thought about it. Then said:
"I don’t know. Probably volunteering."
Cam thought, “Interesting. Self-love, and his mind went to helping others.”
He asked more people on the trail, and noticed they all laughed nervously and floated away without giving a straight answer. Almost like they didn’t have one.
Turns out, self-love was the most uncomfortable topic on the trail.
(On a walk where people openly discuss death, irrational fears, and dreams they’ve avoided for years.)
We talk a lot about what we're missing in our culture. Connection. Depth. Presence. But I think underneath all of it, there's this older wound… the one that says your needs come last. That giving from a full cup is somehow selfish. That rest has to be earned by breaking your own back for other people.
As someone who’s spent the last four years hosting 400+ free events to connect a divided world, I’ve found that self-love is the most important ingredient for serving the collective without burning out… yet most of us have no idea what it looks like.
We couldn’t stop thinking about this after the walk, so it turned into a full conversation on Whimsy World.
Now let's get into what happened on the trails this week… 🧡
Snapshots from our walking villages in cities around the world:
Atlanta coming in hot. Love to see this crowd of regulars forming.
“It feels like the walk is just getting better and better. Which is WILD to say since we’re almost at Austin Walk #200.” — Cameron, in Austin
Big smiles from Detroit, somewhere between five miles and friendship.
Izzy to our host chat: “I forgot to take a group pic this week… but does this picture of us at a hockey game count?!” Yes. Yes it does. 🧡
(Don’t see your city? We post the photos in each Meetup group after the walk. Otherwise this email would be longer than a CVS receipt.)
🏆 Three months in, the Detroit regulars are a certified squad. They're going to hockey games, inviting each other to metal concerts, talking about group sauna days and weekly dinner circuits. Izzy put it perfectly: "I feel like I have genuine friends now, despite ages, despite backgrounds."
🏆 Shoutout to Cam for the line that stopped everyone mid-stride: "I don't want to need. I want to want." Said in the context of relationships and boundaries. The kind of sentence that makes the whole morning worth it.
🏆 A movement win that felt like magic. When we first launched in Boston, we had momentum despite freezing temperatures… and then our host had to step down. We trusted that the right person would pick up the torch. A few days ago, I started repeating to myself: “Someone epic is going to apply in Boston.” Hours later, we got an application! ✨
Turns out, self-love was the one topic people didn’t want to touch.
We’ll talk about death before we’ll talk about loving ourselves.
This puzzled us enough to discuss it on our podcast, Whimsy World. We talked about boundaries and the subtle obligations (like the standing Wednesday friend hang or the weekly family Zoom call) that quietly drain us.
Real self-love, we kept coming back to, looks like this: filling your cup so completely that the overflow reaches people naturally. Not from obligation or the fear of disappointing someone. From a cup that's actually full.
This week on The Board Walks, people brought these topics:
"How do you know when to spend energy vs. protect it?"
"What does self-care look like when you've been taught it's selfish?"
"What would an obligation-free life look like for you?"
"What does it mean to be at peace?"
"When did you fully feel something without trying to fix it?"
Screenshot these. Steal with pride. Bring one to your next dinner party to shift the conversation from “meh” to marvelous.
Quick hits:
🎉 New chapters incoming!
First: Aveiro, Portugal 🇵🇹
We're planting a flag in one of Europe's most beautiful cities, thanks to our host Jenna Sandoval. Cobblestone streets, canals, moliceiro boats, and for the first time this Saturday… five miles and incredible conversations.
Second: Miami, Florida 🌴
Miami, your first walk is kicking off on April 11th! We are thrilled to have Brian Hain joining the host squad and bringing the conversational heat to south Florida just in time for summer.
👀 Know anyone who’d love this? Forward this email or invite them to our growing community on Meetup.
🔐 We’re finalizing our premium global network. For the conversations that don’t end at mile five. Join the waitlist.
"I don't want to need. I want to want."
Thanks to a woman on the Austin walk for this banger.
If we're being honest, most of us built our relationships out of need first. The need to feel seen. The need to not be alone. The need to be chosen. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's just human.
But what happens when you fill yourself up enough that the needing quiets down?
What happens when you walk into a room from a place of wholeness instead of hunger?
You stop performing. You stop auditing. You start actually being there.
That's the practice. The slow work of actually giving yourself what you've been waiting for someone else to give you.
This week: identify one thing you've been waiting for permission to do… and give yourself that permission. 🧡
If you’ve been craving conversations like the one you just read… we saved you a spot on Saturday mornings.
Five miles. No phones. Strangers who slowly become a village.
13 cities strong. Austin. San Francisco. New York City. London. Denver. Columbus. Detroit. Boston. Atlanta. Boone. Sacramento. And now… adding Aveiro and Miami!
(Want to bring a chapter to your city? We're looking for the right people to lead.)
Have a whimsical week,
Founder of The Board Walks
P.s. Know someone who's been pouring from an empty cup? Send this their way or ask what self-love means to them. Their answer may surprise you. 🧡
