Barefoot for a Day!

I did it! I went to school without shoes on. It felt weird as soon as I walked out of the house, I felt like I was forgetting something and I felt a little naked… I think I was more self conscious than worried about hurting my feet which is the opposite of what people who live without shoes worry about I’m sure!

Before class my teacher, Irini, asked my friend Shiloh and I to walk with her, she needed to talk about being disappointed in her honors class. (most of the people talk and don’t know when our tests are and leave class early) Anyways… We walked for like 15 minutes and neither of them realized I was barefoot! So I said something and they both thought it was really cool. Shiloh joined me and took her sandals off, and Irini said she thinks more people should do things like that and she was going to make an announcement. Well that got overshadowed by her speech about being a good honors student and nobody else noticed (or at least didn’t say anything) about our bare feet.

I noticed myself looking at the ground and walking cautiously instead of at the people and things around me like I usually do. It got me thinking how sad it is for the people who have to worry about their safety with every step and can’t enjoy the beauty of the world around them. I narrowly escaped stepping in 2 fresh wads of gum, and a piece of metal. The pavement was hot and rough and I was thanking God that I have shoes in the first few minutes of my walk through the OCC parking lot. This was a pretty good experience.

I’ll be honest I cheated a little this morning and wore shoes on my run. I didn’t want to risk cutting up my feet 2 days before the mud run! While I was running I was thinking how there have to be runners who don’t have shoes in countries like Kenya for example. So I looked for a site on people who run but can’t afford shoes and how to help them but instead I found dozens of sites promoting running barefoot!

-It took me a minute to figure out why this site was called birthday shoes. I got excited thinking they gave you free running shoes on your birthday! But their mission is crazier than that! http://birthdayshoes.com/

-This woman jumped on the bandwagon of crazies who swear running barefoot is better for you than wearing shoes. She offers a humorous list of reasons you shouldn’t run barefoot on her blog. http://www.downtown-runner.com/2010/02/7-reasons-why-you-should-never-run-barefoot/

It was very liberating not wearing shoes and I understand there can be benefits to running barefoot but to me the risk of hurting my piggly wigglies isn’t worth it and I’ll confine my bare feet to my home…and my friends houses, and the beach, and pool, and at the park on the grass!

1 Day Without Shoes

(This is the same one from April 8th I just switched sites.)

I used to think the concept of blogging was kind of odd. Like who really wants to read what I have to say?

But recently there have been a few people who’s opinions or experiences I look forward to every day. Richelle Dante’s photo blog is beautifully addicting and although it’s not official I love Hester’s daily culinary updates. And I’m looking forward to my boyfriend Chris’ second blog entry (if he ever writes one!)

I decided to do mine on whatever I feel like talking about but mostly issues I want to raise awareness on, experiences I find exciting or interesting articles I find. So what better way to start a blog than by announcing that tomorrow I’m participating in TOMS “A Day Without Shoes” movement. Yea me, who is super grossed out about anything to do with feet, is going to spend all day tomorrow barefoot. I’m usually always barefoot in the comfort of a clean carpeted home but I’ve never gone to school barefoot and just my luck I have a class on barefoot day! So for one day I’m going to see what life is like for people who are so poor they can’t even afford shoes. It won’t even be the full experience because luckily Orange County is mostly maintained cement and paved streets unlike the dirt roads of third world villages.

If you’re able or brave enough to I invite you to join me in raising awareness about this simple but important issue. But first here are some facts about the dangers of living barefoot:

• In some developing nations, children must walk for miles to school, clean water and to seek medical help.
• Often, children cannot attend school barefoot.
• Cuts and sores on feet can lead to serious infection.
• In Ethiopia, approximately one million people are suffering from Podoconiosis, a debilitating and disfiguring disease caused by walking barefoot in volcanic soil.
• Podoconiosis is 100% preventable with basic foot hygiene and wearing shoes.

Thank God I have clean running water and plenty of soap!