I recently watched a young waitress bring a dish of food down the stairs to a friend of mine who was waiting at the bottom.  Walking down the stairs carrying the food would have been a high risk endeavor for my friend, and, frankly, for me, too.  The waitress skipped nimbly down the stairs, handed the plate to my friend, and walked lightly back up to the top.

It was impressive and I thought as I watched her that I “appreciated” her grace, much the way I would have appreciated the balance and control of a ballerina.  I didn’t really enjoy it though.  I’ll tell you what I enjoy. I enjoy the way I go down the stairs.

Very likely, I never had the waitress’s agility, but if a old person had been waiting at the bottom of the stairs for her food and if anyone had asked me to take it down to her, I would have done it casually and comfortably, without a second thought.

It has been a long time since I have taken a physical action without a second thought.

On the other hand, I really enjoy the way I go down the stairs.  The way I go down is the result of one adjustment after another and as I perform this feat, I assess and celebrate every layer of the process.  I have had to learn them, you see, and one has been built on top of another so that I am independently conscious of every layer as if I were an anthropologist of my own performance. 

I stand as erect as I can, for instance, so that leaning forward doesn’t put undue stress on my knees.  That’s the most recent innovation; the top layer.  Just below that is “reaching with my hips.”  Many years ago, when I first tried race walking, I got shin splints every time I trained.  That was when I learned that you reach forward independently with each hip as you walk.  It isn’t that hard, once you get the hang of it, but then you have to pay attention all the time or you will go back to regular walking.

When I am walking down stairs, I reach forward and down with my left hip, then with my right hip.  I can very nearly put my foot on the step below without bending my knees at all.  Then I reach with each foot, left right left, to touch the step below before I put any weight on it.

I have no idea at all what it looks like, of course.  I suppose it looks like an old man perilously navigating a stairway. [1]. But, I feel the artistry of it.  I feel a really good foot placement and a smooth extension of one hip, then the other.  I reach with the foot to touch the step.  Then I recover and do it all again.  And again.  A performance only I can truly appreciate and I do.

[1]. All this is on the way down.  Up is not a problem as long as my quads and my gluts hold up and they are good and strong.