Matthew Rehrl

About Matthew Rehrl

I am an author, physician, and former engineer whose work explores walking as a practice of creativity, health, and attention. My writing and speaking are shaped by decades of scientific training, clinical medicine, and a lifelong habit of thinking on foot. I speak and write for civic audiences, healthcare professionals, and writers interested in how movement supports clearer thinking, better health, and more meaningful creative work.
I live, work, and walk in the Pacific Northwest, just east of Seattle.

What I Care About

At the core of my work is a concern that modern technology is advancing faster than our ethical and philosophical frameworks for understanding it. While innovation accelerates, our collective capacity for reflection, wisdom, and responsibility struggles to keep pace.

I care deeply about cultivating attention—through walking, reading, and thinking—as a counterbalance to speed and distraction. My work draws from Western Philosophy, Eastern traditions, and scientific inquiry, with a particular interest in how ethical development must evolve alongside technological power. Walking has become both a literal and metaphorical practice through which I explore these questions.

What I Write

I write across forms, choosing the one best suited to the question at hand.

My nonfiction focuses on walking as a creative, cognitive, and health practice. This includes Think-Walking, which explores the relationship between walking and creativity, The Joy of Walking, which examines fulfillment, meaning, and attention through movement, and  Whispers of the Pacific Northwest: 50 Haiku in Monochrome, a book that pairs haiku with black-and-white photography.

I am currently working on three writing projects:

A memoir, to be released early in 2026, where I discuss what it means to lose and then regain the ability to walk all through the lens of an arthritic hip as a narrator.

A thriller novel series that explores the relationship between advanced technology and philosophy, weaving together Eastern, Western, and Indigenous perspectives on consciousness, ethics, and power.

And a book of philosophy, expanding on the ontology of health.

How I Make My Living

I earn my living through writing, speaking, and professional work at the intersection of healthcare, creativity, and communication. I speak to civic organizations, medical groups, and professional audiences on topics such as walking and creativity, walking and health, walking and writing, and the ethical implications of technological acceleration.

My background allows me to bridge scientific rigor with reflective inquiry, making my work especially relevant to public institutions, healthcare systems, and communities seeking thoughtful approaches to innovation and well-being.

Professional and Academic Background

I began my professional life as an engineer, earning a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder, followed by an M.S. in Physics from the University of Texas at Dallas. I later earned my M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine and completed a Family Medicine residency at the Medical College of Virginia / Virginia Commonwealth University.

Over the course of a long clinical career in a large private clinic, I cared for more than 100,000 patients, gaining broad experience across primary and multi-specialty medicine. I was also on the Physician Social Media Advisory Board at The Mayo Clinic. I currently hold active board certifications in both Family Medicine and Obesity Medicine.

Earlier in my career, I worked in the defense industry at Texas Instruments in Dallas. I have also advised and collaborated with Pacific Northwest technology startups, particularly at the intersection of healthcare, communication, and trust.

My continuing education includes studies in philosophy and ethics at the University of Oxford, a Certificate in Strategy and Innovation from MIT Sloan, and a Higher Education Teaching Certificate from Harvard University.

A More Personal Note

I am an enthusiastic daily walker, reader, writer, and black-and-white photographer, and I do my best to spend as much time as I can enjoying the outdoors of the Pacific Northwest. Much of my personal philosophy is informed by the Western philosophical tradition, and I have a deep interest in the dyad of Plato/Aristotle v. Nietzsche, virtue ethics v. value creation. And finally, and probably most importantly, I love animals, especially cats—and most especially my cat Roo (named after Jean-Jaques Rousseau)—who you can often see on my X account.