Bird droppings

I've now been barefoot for 100 days. As time has gone on, this has become less and less of an big deal to me. I simply go barefoot a lot of the time. When I'm not going barefoot, I'm in flip flops or in my awesome moccasins.

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Barefoot day 52.
I've been barefoot for nearly two months now, and things are getting more and more amazing in the way things are working.

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An entry on ashtma, and an entry on barefootedness.

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So, I'm on, what, day 19 of my barefoot experiment? I've got to say that this is one of the more interesting experiences that I've ever had. Whenever I walk outdoors now, I feel connected to my ground. It's like a whole other dimension has opened up for me. Offices aren't just corridors with textures and colors, but lush carpets and cool wood floors as well. Warm asphalt is a dream to walk on, and just fills me with a comfortable pleasure the likes of which I only experience when I've got a warm towel freshly pulled from the dryer.

It's actually really hard to describe. Being without shoes and feeling the ground underneath me unleashes within a sense of freedom, comfort, and enjoyment that I didn't realize was possible from such a simple and silly action.

It's certainly not without its challenges, though. First of all, proper barefoot walking requires a different style of walking than normal walking. Toe to heel instead of heel to toe. This actually requires different muscles in the legs to work, and I can definitely feel it. Additionally, the ground can be rough in places. Parking lots tend to be the worst, as they are often filled with gravel and pebbles, which are quite challenging on my feet.

Combined, these two factors inhibit the range and speed of my walking. If I do anything approaching a reasonable walk, more than a half mile or so, I have to wear moccasins the next day to avoid further damage to my feet. Also: My leg muscles get really tired after that, more tired than they should, really. But after doing something like that, my feet toughen up and my muscles get stronger, and when I come back to barefoot walking, I'm faster and can walk longer distances than before. And gravel and pebbles bother me less.

I've been fascinated by some of the reactions people have had to my bare feet. Many people bring up myths about laws and health issues that are completely false. Like the whole thing about there being health laws about being barefoot. Completely false. Some people have told me that you can't drive while barefoot. False EVERYWHERE in the US except Kentucky. My father told me that barefeet would put me at risk for fungal issues and infections. Turns out that those problems are often caused and exacerbated by *wearing shoes.* Being barefoot all the time makes them unlikely to occur, and can even *cure* them in some cases!

When I start to explain the numerous benefits of being barefoot, I can see that twinkle in people's eyes indicating that they would love to do it, too. They talk about how they used to be barefoot all the time as kids and stuff. I imagine that more people would do it if it were more culturally appropriate to do so. And as more publicity shines on barefoot runners, I think we're going to be seeing a cultural turn towards barefoot lifestyles and barefoot-like shoes. At least a stronger segment of the population will be interested in such things.

I'll continue to keep you updated and keep talking about my experiences being barefoot, but on a more irregular basis, as I've less to report on on a day to day basis.

Day 11: 3/16/2010
I had a really interesting experience with being barefoot today.

Up until now, I've been quite self-conscious about my bare feet as I've walked around restaurants and stores. Will someone see me? Will they give me a hassle? Ack! All the glares! But then I got my lovely "soleless sandals" that chirik came up with. Suddenly, I'm finding my level of self-consciousness dropping considerably to the point where I forget that I'm barefoot. It works in two ways: 1) Because other people look at my feet and think they see sandals, I feel less worried about their reaction. 2) My feet have that comfortable feeling of being wrapped up in something, convincing my subconscious mind that I'm wearing shoes. All in all, it makes barefoot walking start to drift into just another way of walking for me. Although it still has some *lovely* benefits!

I was walking through a Walgreens the other day and suddenly my feet felt very cold! I looked around in surprise to find that I was walking next to the freezer section. It was like having a sixth sense. Instead of just using smell, sight, sound, etc. to determine my surroundings, I received information about my surroundings from my *feet!* How interesting and awesome! That's *exactly* what I've been looking for from this experience. Very cool stuff.

Day 8: (3/13/2010)
Spent most of the day at a friend's party, and so it wasn't really that interesting to be barefoot indoors. However, at the movie and dinner afterwards, I was barefoot. Got a few looks while at the movie theater, but nothing really significant. I had a really good time walking on the bare pavement. My speed feels like it is still increasing, and I'm still getting smoother on my walking. I'm now able to take the ground strike on the ball of my foot and drop my heel all in one smooth motion now. It's amazing how easy this is to learn.

Day 9: (3/14/2010)
Today, I went hiking and climbing. Since my feet and muscles aren't ready for intense hiking and climbing yet, I decided to wear my hiking shoes. Very different experience. I noticed that I really loved the grip that my hiking shoes have on the ground. I walk easily over rocks, boulders, and other things without having to think about them much. Went barefoot once the hike was over. Nothing interesting to report from that, except that it felt like freedom again.

Day 10: (3/15/2010)
I got my Soft Star Ramblers today. Very odd sort of shoe. Very odd look to it as well. Still deciding whether or not I like the look, but the feel is really nice. It's a soft-soled moccasin, so it lets me do barefoot-style walking without being completely barefoot. This is really good for situations where being barefoot is not allowed, as well as for situations where it is really cold and you want to be barefoot-ish, but warm. The only drawback is that I can't feel the ground in them.

Day 4 (3/9/2010) ended wonderfully for the barefoot Joyce. I went to the grocery store, and I found walking through the parking lot and store to be absolutely wonderful. I got a few strange looks, but otherwise, it was really nice. It felt like I was walking on pillows in there. The ground was just... delicious!

Day 5 (3/10/2010)
My comfort level with being barefoot is continuing to increase. However, today, I was asked by my employer to put my shoes back on, as being barefoot is prohibited by our worker's comp provider. Apparently, the justification is that we might step on a staple.

I'm not going to go down without a fight, although I'm not going to jeopardize my job over this.

Stage 1 of Operation: Barefoot-At-Work will be to get Bare Bottoms like chirik has and see if those slip me under the radar. I've already ordered them and they should arrive next week some time.

Stage 2 will be to write a paper on the health benefits of being barefoot and present it to the individual that asked me to put my shoes back on. I'll make the argument that by requiring me to wear shoes, they are actively requiring me to damage my body, since barefoot walking contributes to improved posture, better muscle development, reduced joint stress, etc.

If they persist in their assertion that I have to do this, I'll drop the issue, as I don't want to rock the boat too much.
Stage 3 will be buying a pair of barefoot-like shoes to wear while I'm in the office. Like a soft-soled pair of moccasins or something. Hell, I'll get them anyway for cold days.

Of course, this all assumes that I continue to do this barefoot thing. At this point, this is all still an experiment.

Last night, I had an absolutely incredible adventure. I was meeting a friend that was in town from Oregon up at Thornton Beach. I was going to meet him and his friends up in Berkeley for a nice dinner, but plans got changed at the last minute. Of course they decided to take the *interesting* route to the beach, and scaled a 200-400 foot tall cliff to get down to it. When I arrived, the moon hadn't risen yet, so I was very confused about where everything was at. I could barely see, and all around me were very very steep cliffs descending down to the beach. I wandered around for probably a good half hour before giving up and asking my friend to meet me at the top of the cliffs. He showed up and brought me down the cliff.

Now, I've been starting to do this barefoot hiking thing lately. I'm really enjoying the feel of actually feeling the ground underneath my feet when I walk places. I mean, this is what your feet were made for! So when I arrived at the beach, I thought briefly about going barefoot, but when I saw all the terrain I had to cross, I decided against it. There were plants all over the place that I had to step on, sharp rocks, and tons of sand.

But while I was climbing down the cliff, I realized that I was having a lot of trouble with my shoes. I finally just said, "Fuck it." and took them off.

Suddenly, my climbing became a lot easier and a lot more enjoyable. I could actually feel the soft sand beneath my feet, as well as the cool rocks and the warm plants that I was stepping on. It was beautiful.

We arrived on the beach and made a huge bonfire in this awesome canyon and talked for a while. It was excellent. After a while, we got up and started walking back to the parking lot. Unfortunately, it was very dark and the moon had not yet risen high enough to provide us with any light, so we wound up walking far past the place where the ropes were laid out to help people climb down the cliff. We decided to find a spot that looked decent and ascend there.

We found the spot and began climbing. I still had my shoes off, and it felt great! We climbed the entire cliff, on sharp rocks and everything, and I never put my shoes on. Everyone else was wearing shoes and were surprised to hear that I wasn't, especially considering the terrain we were on. I loved it. I could feel my grip on the rocks beneath my feet and could more easily maneuver myself from foothold to foothold by not wearing shoes. While everyone else was slipping and sliding, I was pretty stable on my feet, except for my usual clumsiness with such things.

When we got to the top of the first bluff and I took a look at my feet. A few weeks ago, I had done a barefoot hike on an VERY hot day and got heat blisters all over my feet. Last night, all the wandering on the rocks basically tore those blisters from my feet. When I sat down, everyone started freaking out when they saw the chunks of flesh that were hanging off of my feet. But really, I was fine! My blisters had just worn off!

We continued the next ascent after we rested and hung out for a bit, and I felt a lot more sure of myself. I was even helping some of the others with their climb, because they were slipping and falling and having trouble finding their footing.

Although I had a an incredible time hiking last night, I did slip and scrape my foot on some rocks at one point, as well as my arm, so I do have a few cuts and scrapes to carry away from the experience, but nothing serious. Honestly, I like having a few battle scars. :)