My Barefoot Life
Hello, Steemit people!
It's been awhile since I posted, but I thought I'd dip my toe back in the Steemit pond with a blog entry about my barefooting 👣
Refusing to let the 'geo-engineered' sky get me down on my daily early morning walk
I've spent the last 10+ years barefooting through 3+ seasons in the UK, having started due to major circulatory problems. My mother had a lifelong history of suffering from chilblains and during the winter of 2006 (a few months after she died), I suddenly (spookily!) began having similar problems. It was really very scary - parts of my toes and soles would go white and completely lose sensation. When they came back to life they'd be painfully swollen and red, turning black and purple like bruising. I don't do doctors, but I tried all kinds of alternative, holistic treatments, and various approaches to dealing with it. Nothing worked. I was afraid I was going to lose one of my toes at one point - it was THAT bad!
A photo of my feet in 2006, a few months before started barefooting - you'll see how they've changed in a minute!
One day my Dad was visiting with us and he was having a grumble about us using bean bags instead of furniture as he couldn't get up off the floor once he'd sat down. As I was helping to pull him upright, saying, "Use it or lose it, Dad!", I had a major epiphany: I was going about rehabilitating my feet all wrong! I was babying them, whereas what I really needed to do was toughen them up, strengthen them! That very day I started going barefoot in the house, and gradually worked up by going out without shoes in the garden and then further afield, a little bit at a time. Doing so has been a revelation! Not only have my feet recovered and become healthy and strong like never before, it's also strengthened my whole body and eradicated the problems I'd been having with water retention around my ankles and calves.
I'm in my 11th year of barefooting and I made it through my first winter almost entirely barefoot this last winter, even venturing out in the snow - my feet just keep getting stronger and happier! My legs are starting to join in now - the last few months I've taken to wearing shorts quite a bit and always having at least my ankles exposed. I find that recently my feet have become much more intelligent and useful, presenting themselves as tools in many situations. It's like after ten years they're finally really coming back to life and remembering their original purpose!
Giving life 'toe thumbs up'!
Quite honestly, I find pretty much everything about being barefoot fascinating. I opened an Instagram account (https://www.instagram.com/born_barefoot) just for my barefoot daily adventures recently and I've been inundated with messages from all kinds of foot-crazy people. Many of them are people with similar stories to tell, looking for advice or just making contact with a fellow nelipot. But there's also a seedy underside (undersole?) to the shoe-free world that has shocked and surprised me. Each to their own, but it makes me sad that people are so far removed from healthy thinking that even feet are subjected to fetishist fantasising. I've taken to attempting to lead them in the direction of a healthy attitude towards feet, but I have a three strikes and they're out (blocked!) policy ;o)
Well, feel free to ask me anything you like about the joys of being barefoot - or tell me about your own free-footed adventures!
With love,
Jay
Some photos from the last year or two -
very nice
Thank you :)
Admire your naturalist way of life. Beautiful pictures. The picture of your face is the most beautiful one.
Awww, thank you, @amirl <3
"Use it or lose it" this is one amazing story...my feet are perfectly fine. its shocking what challenges other people go thru and all the while you have a good well functioning body and yet you complain...my take from your story is "count your blessings" Thank you
Thank you, @kgeola - count them, indeed! When I started having trouble with my feet, I honestly wondered whether my mother was playing a joke on me from beyond the grave...except NOT a very funny one! It's been a huge life lesson for me. Use it or lose it - never a truer word spoken! ❤
Wow! That is pretty amazing. I remember my husband and I used to watch a show about survival where one of the main guys went barefoot all the time. Everywhere. Around the world. It was pretty wild.
We live in Panama and I am constantly getting onto the kids for not wearing their shoes outside so they don't get worms in their feet! Do you find that you have any problems with catching disease or worms? Do you wear shoes when you go to stores and such?
If you remember the name of the show, you'll have to give me a shout - I'd be interested in seeing that! Yeah, no, I don't wear shoes at all, not anywhere. And I honestly have no idea about diseases or worms. It's not something that I feel concerned about. (I'm really primarily concerned about the concrete reality of the fact that my feet -
and the rest of me - function much better without footwear!) I actually tend to my chickens every day barefoot, chicken shit and all. I'm pretty sure it would gross most people out, but I'm completely immune to it: I just get on with it all! In fact, talking of immunity, I imagine that my immune system must be pretty robust these days: anything I can't wash off with damp grass or a cold hose pipe, I just pull out and throw aside, lol ;o)
Oh man! That's so amazing! I would feel every little piece of everything. I'm sure you did for a while too! Great that this works for you! I have a friend here who goes barefoot a lot and said she got worms but she still keeps doing it! Hey, whatever! The guy I was thinking about was on the show Dual Survival by Discovery Channel. Here is his website: http://www.codylundin.com/cody_dual_survival.html. He was a pretty interesting guy! Take care!!
Thanks for the link, @apanamamama! Looks fascinating - I'll definitely check Cody out!
Yes, I still feel everything underfoot - I have leathery, protective pads on my soles now, but if anything I'd say they are more sensitive rather than less: they're certainly more responsive, anyway.
I have no idea what kind of worms are capable of getting into one's feet, but I live in England, not Panama! Whatever they are, we don't have them here - yay! A benefit to living on this funny little island! I knew there had to be one eventually! ;o)
Off to investigate Cody...!
Hugs!
Lol! Yes a nice advantage! :) I think they are hook worms, but I could be wrong. Hope you enjoyed looking up Cody. He seemed to be quite a character on the show.
Oh, my - hook worms?! I have no idea what they are, but I am NOT looking them up online, for sure! My imagination is already working overtime - I am not going to give it visuals to work with, lol :'D I have bookmarked Cody's website, so I'll be watching some of his content when the right moment arrives. He does look like a character - and so do his feet! xx
Cool eye opening post. Your'e right we treat our feet like they are not part of our body. When in fact they are a very important part. The only thing is certain areas shoes prevent injury. Glad you are back on steemit.
Thank you, Mike - that's really kind of you :O)
Not only do a lot of people behave as though their feet are not a part of them, they actually also have a shitty attitude towards them in general - they end up not only neglected and unhealthy but are also looked down upon (if you'll pardon the pun) as something ugly and 'unclean'.
I take great care of my feet and would not deliberately expose myself to danger. That said, the longer I spend barefoot the tougher and more capable they become. I'm sure that ultimately my feet will be as useful and tough as those of any other animal - that's what I'm working towards anyway!
You made me take a first step.. I took off my soaks off walking around the house.
Yay! Liberate those toes! ;)
If I'd seen this article early Jay it would have been resteemed.
I always loved being barefoot as a child. My father would sing a song:
'Put your shoes on Lizzie. Don't you know you're in the city?
Put your shoes on Lizzie. You're a big girl now.'
It just struck me now that shoes are seen as a sign of growing up. And as children that's what we want more than anything. I did anyway.
In Oz we are lucky in that our 'beach culture' allows us to be barefoot for a good part of the year ~ At least at the beach.
I started barefooting when one of my sister's passed on. Instictively all I wanted to do was garden ~ And without shoes. Sometime after that all the 'good news' about barefooting caught on and I realized that barefooting had been part of my (much needed) grieving and healing process.
GREAT to see you back at Steemit Jay. Have really missed you. 🦋
Thank you for this lovely comment, Ally, and for the glimpses into your life that you've shared here - I can really 'see' them as I'm reading your words, and it's beautiful <3 I'm glad to BE back - I missed you, too! xx