My feet asked to be naked again, and so of course I listened to their plea!
Through the winter months they were happily snug in vibram five fingers, but then the soul yearning began, to feel the earth beneath their soles – the pavements too; ouchie paths in the park – and the green grass – frosty grass, muddy grass.
There appears to be no reason for it, except for the joy, the fun, the freedom…
As Anadi and I made our way through Battersea Power Station on Sunday morning we started to overtake a small group of people…
‘Oooh aren’t your feet cold’ one of the men enquired and then continued ‘I’ve never seen anyone running in bare feet’…
Anadi and I stopped running to chat; we wandered along with them for a while…
‘She ran from the North to the South of Spain without any shoes’ Anadi said…
‘And there was snow in the North of Spain in March!’ I laughed…
‘Of course it wouldn’t be odd In Africa – They don’t where shoes at all’ – the man mused, ‘I know, I was born there’, I replied – ‘Where ‘ he asked ‘West Africa’…
‘I lived there too’ he said
‘It’s where it all began’ I replied….’I just love it – there’s no reason…’
When we do things for no reason at all, we are brought more immediately to the present moment, to the experience – walking bare foot lends itself to staying in each step… Being aware of each footfall. Noticing, feeling, touching being where my feet are.
The body can only be in the present moment.
The mind can skitter and scatter back and forth, a forgotten past, held onto, searched for, held and often relived again and again… A future point dreamed of or dreaded, by the mind… a persona created by an identification with thoughts…
But the body, is here and now. It can’t be anywhere else.
And so breathing in, we are here, now, experiencing the joy and vitality and the possibilities in this moment – and our feet as they touch the ground, there is only one step they can ever be in before they take another and another to arrive wherever they might be going
No where.
All our steps lead us nowhere at all, and everywhere – inwards to experience our true nature – and outwards in the experience of our unique energy with its powerful potential to shine bright and clear – often obstructed by the tensions and fears of the very thoughts themselves; or an attachment to an outcome that might never arrive, or give us what we hoped for once we have it in our grasp.
Journeying to a destination, a goal a new vision can be such fun, especially when we stay were we are, right here in the present moment.
Because everything goes in the end; except for our unchanging nature that was never born and will never die.
So the transitory things of life, are best enjoyed now, in this very moment.
Like walking in the park, every step precious; or stretching for excellence – for the pinnacle of success in our chosen field; here and now it is perfect – as we journey.
I met a musician once at Heathrow airport – about 15 years ago – I was returning from the grand cayman and our luggage was lost – somewhere – I met the musician and a young woman at the luggage belt.
We waited together for three hours and became friends in that time, who have never seen one another again…
He had played as a professional musician all his life… He talked about how each event he practised for was a lifetime in itself… Each note he played, each day he practised, each concert he performed at was his favourite; was his whole life and then it was gone.
I recognised he was living what I knew to be true.
Each precious moment a note to be played, a step to be trodden, a breath to be taken.
Leading nowhere – and everywhere
And so I have taken my shoes off again and I am letting the steps take me where they will; becoming running, in the barefoot steps of freedom and fun…