Bare Feet
Healthy feet can hear the very heart of Mother Earth. Sitting Bull Your feet walk upon the Earth and through this your spirit is connected to the universe. Our feet are our contact with the Earth and the energies that flow through it. Cherokee "Moonmaiden" Jenny Wallace And forget not that the Earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. Kahlil Gibran

Something Special...

... Plus, I think going barefoot is just plain cool!

Why...

Bare Feet

TWO out of every five adults take off their shoes whenever they can, and the other three don't seem to mind having their feet smothered.
   I arrive at this figure by way of my own family. One of my brothers and I go barefoot even in winter, to the continuing echo of our mother's voice saying, "Aren't your feet cold?" and "Where are your shoes?" and "Put something on your feet!" Our three siblings wear shoes. Or sandals, or bedroom slippers, or sometimes just socks, but always something to render their feet deaf and blind. I don't know whether or not there's a genetic component involved.
   My brother and I don't long to rip off the rest of our clothes; we don't wear impractical shoes; our feet in shoes don't hurt; we aren't seeking relief from the pinch. It's just that we're always, at some level of consciousness, aware of whatever's wrapped around us down there, as of a hand lightly but immovably across our mouths all day. For us and others like us, the moment of taking off the footwear is a relief and a joy, and in summer, with the barefoot hours extended into days, our personalities change. Barefoot, we're almost always at peace. We're gentle and tolerant with our fellow man. Stress and anxiety evaporate and grief itself seems bearable as long as our feet are free.

...

   For some of us, the soul is resident in the sole, and yearns ceaselessly for light and air and self-expression. Our feet are our very selves. The touch of floor or carpet, grass or mud or asphalt, speaks to us loud and clear from the foot, that scorned and lowly organ as dear to us as our eyes and ears.

...

   Maybe the whole world secretly understands that free feet produce a different, more philosophical, relaxed, and unbusinesslike mindset. Without shoes, our ambitions would fade away, wolfish trade practices seem too much trouble, international frictions look foolish. Armies would curl up to take a nap. Nobody would get any serious work done and the world would go straight to hell.
   Considered in this light, going barefoot is almost as much a vice as a pleasure. Subversive. Counterproductive, like smoking pot. Which isn't likely to stop us two out of five who revel in it.
   Yes, Mother, some of the time our feet are cold. And yes, we do run the risk of stepping on bits of broken glass in the house and, outside, bees in the clover. As they say in the Pentagon, it's an acceptable risk. Highly acceptable.

All that I ask...

Along with input with fellow barefooters, I have completed a position paper on going barefoot: "A Case for Bare Feet."

Oh... one more thing... If you happen to know of any other quotations about bare feet, I'd like to hear them!

Barefoot Stuff:

• Society for Barefoot Living
  I have founded a world-wide group for people who feel as I do about bare feet. When I started it, I was thrilled to discover that I am definitely not alone in my feelings. I created and moderate the group's mailing-list where members share stories of their experiences, thoughts, and feelings about bare feet.

  Some members have told me that, before discovering the group and the fact that there are others like them who delight in going barefoot, they thought they were "weird" and alone. (I too felt this way before I started the group.) I have been told that I have "validated" their lives. That is a nice thing to have done for somebody. Many of us think that there are lot more people out there who would love to go barefoot but don't because of what some other people might think. In the end, one has to say, "To hell with everybody else!" and do what makes one happy.

  I have actually flown to meet and go barefoot with some members and have had good times. It is always great to meet another barefooter. Upon seeing one another, our faces smile and our eyes brighten as we see a like-minded person with bare feet.

• Barefoot Hikers
  Local groups of people who enjoy hiking barefoot. There is nothing more natural than hiking through nature barefoot. The soles of your feet are a wonderful sensory organ and the myriad of feelings from earth, grass, moss, pine-needles, and mud are wonderful.

• Barefoot FAQ
  I created and maintain the Frequently Asked Questions list that answers questions about living barefoot.

Some Footnotes:

The footprints to the left are reduced images of my actual footprints. To make them, I blackened my soles with charcoal, stepped onto paper to make prints, and scanned the paper. The bitmapped images were then transformed into PostScript via Adobe Illustrator. Once in PostScript, they can be scaled and rotated without distortion. The images used here were antialiased by Adobe Photoshop to improve their appearance when rendered on bitmapped displays.