And then, I thought...why would they?
I've offered nothing yet, other than the chance to feel the earth....but so what?
And then, it came to me...as things often do when barefoot walking on the beach.
It's simple....maybe too simple, in fact....
But I'll share it anyway....cos I'm always curious to see how simplicity fares in this over complex world......it's a fun little hobby of mine!
How barefoot walking helps me feel the earth....
I know deep down inside my being and maybe others know this as well, that all we have built upon this earth, can be destroyed...and will be destroyed... inevitably, eventually, somehow.
And I think, maybe, that's why humans keep building...making things stronger, creating more of everything....cos we know nothing lasts forever but want to pretend that it will.....
It's a much nicer feeling that one....the one of permanency and foreverness.
Believing the things we've built will keep us safe and the more we have the better we'll feel etc etc etc.
It's a much nicer feeling than embracing the reality of cyclones, decay earthquakes, nuclear explosions, wear and tear, bad manufacturing, tsunamis, planes crashing through buildings, lightning strikes, fires, old age and so on...
That things and stuff will be destroyed eventually, in some way or another is a difficult thing to embrace.
But I like to embrace it.
Cos I like things that are real and to me this is as real as it gets.....
So, I play this game where I pretend to take all the things and stuff we have away for a while, imagining it's all been destroyed...(it's just for fun and only includes material things....not the people we love....taking them away is too hard for me...even if it is just pretend!)
I like to dissolve in my mind the houses and the cars and the paths and the roads and the driveways and the buildings and the cities and the laptops and the ipads and the iphones and the tvs and the swimming pools and the shops and the fridges and the beds and the verandahs and the caravans and the bikes and the bowls and the plates and knives and forks and the traffic lights and signs......all the stuff and things that have made us feel secure and all ok......are gone.....
And what do we have left?
Earth..... Dirt. Sand. Rock, Shrubs, Shells, Prickles, Wood, Dust......
Then I do the same with humans.....strip them down to nothing.
Take off hats and sunglasses...make up and jewellery if it's worn. Unzip jeans and take them off. Pull shirts over heads....unbutton dresses, strip them off...and jumpers and heavy coats. Get rid of shorts, singlets, skirts, leggings. Take it off whatever it is. Then underwear....yep. Everything goes No one's gonna look. No one cares...
Then unlace the shoes and slide them off ...socks as well.....
And what's left?
A naked human standing.
And what's the human standing on?
Earth.
And what's connecting the naked human standing to the Earth?
The soles of that humans' Bare Feet.
Human connecting to Earth.
I get goosebumps out of that....
Naked human on naked earth....
I get tingles all through my body....
Raw, real and so, so simple.....
Feet making love with the earth.
Delicately, carefully....new textures and sensations......
Sometimes soft, sometimes hard..
Tickly, prickly...sometimes squishy.....
My toes squiggle and scrunch away....finding feelings never felt before....
So different...so exciting....
- compared to that which is felt through the rubber sole of a shoe as it stomps on what ever happens to be underneath, at the time of its unconscious landing-
This is why I go barefoot walking.....
Cos it takes me back to who I am and what I'm living on.
Basic human on basic earth....connected by the soles of my feet.
xx