By S.S.

October 22, 2022

RESPONSE TO “WHY ARE YOU BAREFOOT?”

Some years ago I put off my shoes and did not put them on again.  I walk the world barefoot now.  I pass through new grocery stores and old forests, clean restaurants and mucky swamps, sticky movie theaters and sandy beaches, holy churches and holy mountains, department store malls and wild meadows.  Everywhere I go people ask me, “Why are you barefoot?”, and I find the question so absurd that I have to pause.  When once I wore shoes, everywhere I went felt like the inside of a shoe.  My feet were soft and weak.  They stank from sweating all day.  I was afflicted by pinched toes and fungus and other maladies.  Now my feet do not stink, and my feet are firm and strong – and now I feel the world for what it is.

When I put off my shoes, I learned that the relationship we have with our feet is the relationship we have with the rest of the world.  Every step I take is a kiss, and I have learned that every kiss is different. I have learned that dirt and grass are better than concrete. I have learned that moss in the woods is better than carpet. I have learned that holy ground is everywhere, and I have learned to read the scripture written upon it. I have learned that – like every piece of ground – everyone is different, and everyone has a unique story. I have learned to accept the ground and people as they are and not ask them to conform to my way of thinking, doing, or believing.  Every barefoot step I take is a prayer that helps me see the divine sparks in every place and in every one.

Now I go barefoot deliberately. I do not take my shoes off; I do not put shoes on in the first place. I go barefoot as a spiritual devotion. I go barefoot for my health. I go barefoot as a way to stay physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually balanced and connected to the Earth. I go barefoot as an expression of sensitivity and compassion. I go barefoot as a practice of awareness and mindfulness. I go barefoot as a student and as a teacher.  I go barefoot as a question, and as an answer.

So when you ask me, “Why are you barefoot?”, I have to pause and ask you, “How can you possibly wear those shoes when the earth is so beautiful and craves your every kiss?  Take them off and walk with me in the garden.  Walk in the grass, squish in the mud, tiptoe on the rocks, and splash in the puddles with me.  Together we will keep a secret that only children know: That God has written a scripture on creation that you can only read with your naked feet.”