Somebody else's dawn walk

A woman in Doha started a dawn walking group two winters ago. They meet at a park before work, walk for forty minutes at a set pace, and finish with tea. It grew by word of mouth, and she is rightly proud of it.

This autumn another group appeared on the far side of the city. Dawn, a set pace, tea at the end. Her first feeling was that something had been taken from her.

That feeling deserves to be slowed down. The other organiser has very likely never heard of her. Walking with friends at first light was not invented in Doha, and plenty of people did it long before either of them. And looked at closely, the two groups are less alike than they seemed in the first sting: different neighbourhoods, different women, different reasons for turning up.

Even if it were an exact copy, it would be good news. An idea other people pick up is an idea that works. Every new group makes the habit a little more ordinary, and an ordinary habit sends more women looking for a group to join, hers included.

One thing is worth holding to. When she borrows from someone, saying so out loud costs her nothing and makes her look more generous and more sure of herself, not less. She can hope others do the same.

What is not worth holding to is the urge to guard it. Every morning spent counting who copied whom is a morning not spent walking, and someone who treats ideas as scarce tends to end up with fewer of them.

If the other group were luring away her walkers, that would be a loss. Taking up her idea is something else. That is the idea winning.