One Day Without Shoes

Today's the day. Thank God there is almost no snow on the ground. And it's sunny. Here are my thoughts and observations throughout the day.

Leaving the house barefoot felt odd from the beginning, but a little exciting. I brought my TOMS along because I know we have a footwear policy at work and even though we're fairly grassroots, no shoes wouldn't fly. The sidewalks outside my house were freezing! But honestly it felt kind of good. I was scared walking around my car parked on the street though, since there's all kinds of debris around there.. glass and such. Driving without shoes is great, I frequently do that so that wasn't new. Walking into work was brutal. Our parking lot is full of junk and it's not the nice, small grain cement like a sidewalk, it's big chunks.. it was freezing! All the while I'm telling myself, hey, you're exfoliating your feet.. for free even! Made me feel a little better, but just a little.

Had to wear my shoes at work, but since they're TOMS I feel like I'm still supporting the cause. ;) I'm wearing my shoes as little as possible. It was Takeout Tuesday at work so we had to go pick up food so rather than get kicked out of the restaurant, I caved and wore my shoes. It kind of bugged me but I get the point, food safety, blah blah blah. ;)

So far it hasn't been too bad. The worst was the parking lot and thinking about the little shards of glass that are probably embedded in my feet now. But it's really making me think about what other counties endure without shoes, especially children.

Overall, the day wasn't so bad. I was a little disappointed that I didn't have more conversations with people about it. If I had worked from home I probably would have ran errands and whatnot..

But the huge thing that kept that from happening is all the rules about no shirt - no shoes - no service. Makes a day without shoes, well, impossible.

Either way, it did some work in my heart to think about the fact that I wear shoes every day. And not only that, I have A LOT of shoes. Too many? Probably. I'm a girl, what can I say. Shoes and purses. But they're all from the thrift store or garage sales so I'm recycling and reusing.. and paying about $3 a piece. Can't shake a stick at that.

Let's all think about what it means to have what we do. We are privileged. Really. When I usually think of being "privileged" I think of people who live in mansions and drive Ferraris. But that's not really true. It's a privilege to have clean drinking water, shoes, a bed to sleep in at night. Clothes! To think of all the times I stand in front my of closet and think "Ugh I have nothing to wear." Umm, no. Not true. What a burden to have so many options.

Join me in thinking about what it means to want less.