Too Shy to Go Barefoot

I've always been pretty shy going barefoot. It just wasn't something we did at home, and I've also been kind of self conscious and embarassed to go barefoot around other people. I found it odd, because most of my friends didn't have much trouble going barefoot. When I'd go over to their houses they'd often be barefoot, and frequently go outside barefoot. I, on the other hand, hardly ever went barefoot where other people might see me. I remember in grade school doing an activity where we had to have someone trace our foot on construction paper so we could cut it out for an art project. I remember being nervous the whole day leading up to having to take off my shoe and sock, and then wanting to put them back on as quick as I could. Thing is, no one else in my class seemed to mind, or even think that going barefoot in school was outside the ordinary at all.

Now, fast forward a few years to the summer between 7th and 8th grade (I think I was 13 or 14). I went to a week-long leadership camp held on the campus of a small college. I would be staying in one of the dorms, with two roommates who I didn't know, so I was a little nervous to begin with. I wasn't too nervous about stuff like going barefoot to shower or to change my socks and stuff, but I was still a little nervous.

So, I get there and meet my two roommates - Dan and Casey - both were my age, and pretty friendly. That first night they had a talk on going outside your "comfort zone" - the idea being to push the limits of where you feel comfortable, so that you might get the most out of the rest of the week. Later that night, they had a mock game show with the kind of games where people get pies in the face and stuff - it was pretty funny to watch and play in. In the final game, there was a contest where the loosers would slide down into a kiddie pool of whipped cream. My roommate Dan was one of the people who lost, so he had to slide into the whipped cream. Of course, he took off his shoes and socks before doing this. So, when we got back to our room, Dan stayed barefoot after showering, and put his socks and shoes back on the next morning. So, I decided that I would try to kick my stupid barefoot "phobia" that week, even though it wouldn't really mean anything other than to me.

So, the next day we were doing some stuff outside, and it was raining, and my socks and shoes got soaked in the grass. We had to stay in our wet shoes until dinner, and then got to go back to our rooms for a few minutes of free time. I decided this would be a good time to try to go barefoot, so I took off my socks, and left them off. Casey also decided just to go barefoot, but Dan changed into dry socks. Later, they were showing a movie in a lounge in the dorm, and Casey started to walk down the hall to the lounge in bare feet, so I decided that now was just as good a time as any to try to go barefoot in around other people. So, I headed down to the movie, and probably a third or so of the guys there were also barefoot, which made it a little more comfortable, but I still felt weird at first - even though it didn't look like anyone cared, and many other people were barefoot, it still seemed like I was drawing attention to myself. By the end of the movie though, I had forgotten I was barefoot until I stood up and felt the carpet under my feet, but at least I was a little more confident.

So, for the rest of the week, I went barefoot off and on, just in the dorm and stuff. I started to feel more comfortable just hanging out barefoot and stuff. The last night we were there they had a party out on the quad on the campus, and they had a dunk tank. So, almost everyone there was getting dunked in the dunk tank, and of course no one was wearing their shoes and socks in the tank. So I decided to go in the dunk tank barefoot, too, which was pretty fun, because I wasn't focusing on me being barefoot, but rather getting dunked, hanging out with my friends and enjoying the party. Again, I had forgotten I was even barefoot until I decided to head back to my room to put on dry clothes, and was trying to find where I lost my shoes at!

So, that week kind of helped me get over my uncomfortableness going barefoot. At school the next year, I even "forgot" my gym shoes once or twice, and had to do PE class barefoot! I was also more comfortable going barefoot at my friends' houses and such. So, I'm definitely not trying to go barefoot into public places like stores and stuff, but just trying to be more comfortable barefoot in "normal" situations.

So, I just wanted to share my little "success story", but also was wondering if anyone has any insight on what its like to be nervous over something stupid like this...

 

its not stupid to be nervous. good to hear you are taking it slowly. if you're not too comfortable with it.. what about sandles?

 

Wow, I had the dilemma with the tracing of the foot, too, in third grade! Actually, we have somewhat similar early stories; I wasn't barefoot at home at all until about 5th grade. I didn't start going outside barefoot until this summer, during which my feet got quite tough, but now that we're in that [sarcasm] beautiful [/sarcasm] time of the year where the highs are in teens and twenties (if we're lucky, thirties), I have no choice really but to wear shoes outside. Plus there's school.

I became seriously interested with going barefoot in 6th or 7th grade. I didn't break that barrier where I was really comfortable with it until the end of last year (8th grade) when we had this end-of-year party thing at a park where there was sand volleyball. Kind of made me realize that other people like to go barefoot; I just like it more than most (maybe because I was stifled for so many years?). I've got a thread that's sort of like a diary of the last couple years, you can go read it, it's called "I seek advice". Lots of posts that have been very helpful.

 

what an awesome story, thank you for sharing

Congratulation on the start ! as you have been doing, take it slow and at your own comfort pace (pun intended).

good luck and good barefooting

 

Thanks for sharing your wonderful story, I enjoyed reading it. You are lucky that you are working to change this at a young age. You are not alone with this my friend, as I struggled with the embarrassment of going barefoot for years.

I too thought I was weird for having such a phobia, but with the invention of the internet I found out that I was not alone with such feelings. What a relief, it's nice to share stories about this, as lots of people otherwise would'nt understand , but I do.

Growing up, I never went barefoot at home, but my sister did. She would occassionally make a comment or two about it, it was a rare sight for any one of my family members to see my feet. Never did I spend the night at a friends house and a day at the lake, swimming and picnicing with my family was a dreaded event. Back in the fifth grade I had an unpleasant surprise on the first day of gym class. I found out that I would have to go barefoot because I failed to wear my sneakers to class. I disobeyed the new female gym teacher and kept them on, somehow I managed to get away with it. I could'nt imagine getting barefoot in front of the others, especially the girls!!!

My first girlfriend loved to go barefoot, so naturally she wanted me to to do it as well. I remember on ocassion she would physically remove my shoes and socks, every time I felt mortified, but tried desperately not to show it. I became less anxious with each time I had the courage to leave the shoes behind . Years later on a date with another gal brought me to that same lake I so dreaded. I accidently threw the frisbee that were tossing back and forth in the water. She insisted I remove my shoes and socks and go fetch it. Now I was able to do it without hesitation, and we both ended up barefoot for the rest of the day.

Yes you can overcome it, just keep going barefoot, it will get easier! Oh and by the way, welcome to the forum!

 

Great story. I've gone barefoot a lot, but wanted to start going barefoot all the time. I was a bit self conscious at first, then I decided to "just do it" about six months ago. Now I go barefoot everywhere. Work (I'm the boss so that's easy) stores, etc... I found that once I stopped being self conscious of it, everyone else stopped noticing too. I have not had anyone mention it to me for months. Be comfortable with it yourself, and everyone else seems to follow along. At least around here.

 

:agree:

 

Firstly gmdm22003.....Loved Reading Your Post.....Unfortunatly You Don't Tell Us What Country You Live In.....And I'm Wondering Wether Your Local Culture And Customs May Have Played A Part In Your Nervous Approach To Barefooting ???? A Short Post (by your standards) About My Experiences Can Be Found On Page 4 Under "They Said I'd Never Make It".....When I Wrote That Article I Did Not Include The Fact That When I First Started Barefooting In Places Like Legal Offices,Acountants,Local Council Etc, I Was Very Nervous Thinking That Maybe These "Blacksuited Profession Types" May Take My Barefootedness As A Mark Of Disrespect To Their Profession.....So I Guess I Can Relate To How Nervous You Felt.....Once Again Thank You For Your Informative Post And Please Keep Us All Informed As You Venture Out Into Everyday Life And Activities Barefoot.....I'm Sure In Time You Will Love It .....It's A Great And Natural Way To Go Through Life......Barefoot On !!!..........Cheers Glen.

 

In the Victorian era ladies and gents of "polite society" would NEVER be seen in public without gloves. Oh my! Bare hands!!! Horrors!!! That was even the prevailing attitude til about the 1940's here in the states. The culture changed, the custom changed. Now you see more and more people wearing $50 flip flops. The culture is changing again. It's a good trend.

 

Don't forget the bare ankles! A girl showing her ankles was plain indecent. And going out in public without a hat, that was 'not done' either for quite some time... Glad custom has relaxed as much as it has, even if some people still freak out from bare soles.

 

Bare ankles still get a woman flogged in Saudi Arabia.

 

I heard a 'war story' from the first gulf war, that a US female soldier was walking around Riyadh Saudi Arabia in shorts and the religious police started smacking her bare legs. After a time she got pissed off and turned and punched one of them out. She made a hasty retreat to the base and was taken out of country. don't know how true this is, but it's funny

 

It's understandable that you ould be nervous or uncomfortable the first few times you went out bare if you were raised to always have your shoes and/or socks on. And it's good that you took small steps to explore going barefoot. Especially with other barefooters around to help you see that it's no big deal. I'm sure that during the movie you felt that everyone was watching your feet instead of the movie! The m ore you do it, the less of a big deal it will be to those around you. It will just become a part of who you are and what you do. Then it will become a big deal when you do wear shoes. Continue to take steps to go out in public bare- take a walk to the park or go to a bookstore and kick off your shoes while you read a good book....

 

I am surprised to hear your story. I too have a very similar difficulty going barefoot around people. I would like to start doing it but I have this difficulty. I get nervous and can not seem to do it, especially at home.

 

Being nervous about doing anything nonstandard is perfectly normal when we live in a country where so many people have strong opinions about everything that everybody else does. You just have to make yourself take the risk a few times, and see that the world doesn't come to an end. It gets easier every time. Eventually, it starts to sink in that those people's opinions are not as important as they want them to be. Actually, most people are relatively apathetic about others, spending more time worrying about what YOU are thinking about THEM.

 

So, has anyone else come on board that wants to start meeting somewhere and hanging out barefoot? I'd love the opportunity to get involved in such a meeting!

 

and bare feet would get you a hard paddling at my elemetary school

 

Just remember you're not in elementary school anymore... Drinking a beer wasn't allowed there either, but once we're adults we can and few people will think worse of you for that.

 

Well this brings back memories of the time we had to do wrestling back in 8th grade phys ed or in junior high.

I remember being very excited initially about starting the unit, but the first day the teacher told all of us (it was an all boys class) that we had to do the unit barefoot as shoes and socks were dangerous for wrestling.

So after much protest from most of the boys they did, and I did too and immediately after I got barefoot in there I started feeling all weird and awkward about having other boys stare at my feet and the whole concept of doing PE barefoot was just weird.

After a while of course I was too focused on wrestling to even notice and it gradually started to get easier.

Ever since that time I must admit I still do find being barefoot or even wearing sandals without socks to be quite awkward, so in my spare time I go to martial arts places to take an "orientation" lesson with no real intent of joining just so i get the experience of working barefoot on a sport.


Did anyone have to do PE barefoot?

 

Back when I was in the fifth grade we had a new female gym teacher that required anyone not wearing tennis shoes had to take phys ed barefoot. Not knowing her rules before hand, I ended up wearing my hard sole shoes the first time around and was shocked that I would have to go barefoot in front of the others, especially the girls. I was painfully shy for anyone to see my naked ghostly white feet, so I kept them on. Somehow me and another boy got away with wearing our hard sole shoes, however two girls in the class did the session barefoot. From then on, I always wore sneakers each time we had phys ed.

Foot shyness seemed to be a common affliction during our youth, it's comforting to know that I was in good company.