Barefoot

I don’t know what’s gotten into me lately, but I can’t stop myself from walking around the house barefoot. In fact, just today I took out the trash with no shoes on and it’s negative three degrees Celsius out there! There’s something awesome about pushing my body to (my) extremes and see how it deals.

This began when I decided I’d go barefoot around the house for a day, just to see how that would feel… Actually, this very idea started brewing in my head when I saw one of the videos on YouTube with Tim Minchin (whose work I started admiring when I stumbled upon his poem Storm, shortly after which I saw Matilda the Musical on Broadway and decided I still admired his work, which led me to the said YouTube video) performing on stage barefoot. I looked up if he ever said why he performed barefoot, and found that he has. The answer is quite simple – he likes it.

I thought to myself that I like going barefoot too, but I’ve never actually tried going barefoot at home on purpose. So, one day I neglected to put on my socks and slippers, and I went barefoot around the house. Just to see how that would feel.

I liked it!

That day I immediately thought about going further. Mid-January was quite mild this year in Croatia, so I thought “What the heck, let’s give it a shot.” I went barefoot outside. That first day I just took a short stroll in the backyard. The next day I walked around the entire village (after dark, so no weird looks). Twice. How did my body cope? Well, first the cold really gets to you. Then the foot feels like it’s going numb, but when that happens I lift it up and wiggle my fingers. After a while it warms up nicely. I suppose in extreme cold it wouldn’t really work that way, but like I said, mid-January in Croatia was quite mild.

After the first day, I also tried driving barefoot. It’s not strictly allowed in Croatia, but I can vouch for the safety of driving barefoot. In fact, I think it’s much safer than driving with any type of footwear. Besides that, it feels nice. I’ve always thought of cars as extensions of the drivers’ bodies, and driving barefoot really amplifies that sensation. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to drive completely naked!

These are the things I never really tried doing barefoot. Walking barefoot on asphalt? Never! Now I don’t know what held me back. Maybe I need a Tim Minchin occasionally in my life, just to point out to me the stuff I’m missing out on.

In any case, even when I did chores naked, I used to wear socks or slippers. I’m never wearing them again. When I’m naked, I’m barefoot. And I’m barefoot even when I have to be clothed. Except when I absolutely have to put on some footwear (for protection, or otherwise).