For me, and I suspect a fair proportion of the more active SBL membership, barefooting is an activity. Most of my friends are barefoot around their house and yard and often when driving, and sometimes they’ll go further afield without bothering with footwear. I even have a few geocaching friends who do some of their caching barefoot but are just as likely to turn up shod. For them, barefooting isn’t a way of life, it’s a convenience of the moment or sometimes even an oversight.

I remember back in my late teens when I first plucked up the courage to start going barefoot further afield than just my local neighborhood, that feeling of lightness and freedom and the myriad of sensations underfoot. That hasn’t gone away even though I’m now well into my 60s. When I hiked the Great North Walk . . . doing it barefoot was my primary motivation, including a conscious decision from the start not to carry any footwear with me. I choose holiday destinations where I can be barefoot the whole time. My sometimes-barefoot friends don’t do that, they might be barefoot or not in the same way as they make other clothing choices. While they accept my eccentricity, often with a grin, a chuckle and a shake of the head, they don’t fully understand it the way my SBL friends do. That’s the difference and it’s what being an SBL member means to me.

January 24, 2021

I have walked barefoot on snow, through frosty grass, on hot black sands, so I do understand that the regular climate here is a real plus.
My friend [above] writes about barefooting as an activity.
For me (and here I am only talking about myself and not making any comments about how others see themselves), I go barefoot, – that is what I do, but I am a barefooter, and that is my identity. The company I work for encourages us to bring our whole selves to work; so I do exactly that. Being barefoot is part of my whole self. It’s part of my brand. We’re also encouraged to share our wellness goals within the company – this year amongst my wellness goals is living barefoot 24/7/365. That was how I lived 2020, and is how I will live 2021.