From: BSM

Date: 1-19-2018

How my barefooting interest began

My interest in being barefoot started suddenly and totally by accident when I was 16. That first time being barefoot out in a park for hours had such an effect on me that I used to call it “the day I discovered my feet.”

The next year when my mom reminded us that we would be going to our family’s annual Labor Day picnic I said that it would be the one-year anniversary of the day I discovered my feet. I said it kind of jokingly and nobody seemed to care. But that night after dinner my little brother (I think he was 9 at the time) asked our Mom and Dad if we were going out for ice cream (which we sometimes do for special occasions). They seemed surprised and confused since there was nothing special to celebrate. My little brother (who always liked ice cream) said, “But we have to go for ice cream–it’s the anniversary of Brendan discovering his feet!”

My Mom has never been one to celebrate me going around with bare feet but since they thought my little brother was so funny and cute we actually did end up going for ice cream that night. And my little brother gave me a card he made that has a drawing of a pair of feet and says, “Dear B–, Happy 1 year anniversary of discovering your feet.”

B.S.M.’s account of how it actually began:

I started out going barefoot totally by accident. Last year my family had our annual Labor Day picnic at a park with a stream. My cousin and I are always playing pranks on each other so when I was standing near the stream he snuck up and shoved me. I stumbled towards the stream and couldn’t catch myself until I was in the water up to my ankles.

My Nikes filled up with water and my socks were soaked. I tried sloshing around in them for a while but it was just too uncomfortable. So I decided to take off my shoes and socks and spent the rest of the day barefoot.

I quickly noticed a great feeling of freedom and realized how much I enjoyed actually being able to feel what I was walking on. From the hot asphalt walking paths to the soft cool blades of grass between my toes it really felt good. This was all new to me because I live in the city where everyone wears shoes, and I had never tried going barefoot outside. In fact I usually wore shoes all day long, even at home.

That night I realized I have never really felt comfortable in shoes. Maybe it’s because my feet are size 15 or because my second toes are a little longer than my big toes (from our Irish heritage according to my mom), but shoes never seem to fit me right. So I decided I would try to go barefoot as much as possible. But soon after that school started and the weather started getting colder, which pretty much limited me to being barefoot only at home. But since last spring I have been able to really step it up, which has definitely made me happier.

–B.S.M.