It started with an alert on my iPhone. In late June, a notification from the Health App popped up intrusively on my lockscreen. This year, you’re walking less on average than you did in 2019. This felt personal. It wasn’t another news alert about politics, or people denying the medical reality of Covid-19. This was my phone, the one I’d paid too much money for and kept cradled close to me like some sort of tiny purebred pet, calling me out for a personal failing. When I was done being insulted, though, I became uncharacteristically motivated. I put on a pair of beat-up Vans, strapped on a mask, and headed toward Prospect Park, not far from my Brooklyn apartment. There, I completed the 3.35-mile loop, and felt great afterward. Back in my apartment later that day, the sun setting, I already missed the sense of achievement I felt earlier that morning, so I went for another walk. The next morning, I did it again. It felt good to move my body. And accomplishing something gave me a jolt of mood-lifting dopamine. In the middle of an achingly difficult year, here was a simple task I could complete – something good … Continue reading When Covid started, I decided to walk 20,000 steps a day. It changed my life