Why go Barefoot?

Being barefoot can be comfortable at times for me, but i cant understand why you'd do it all the time. Isn't it uncomfortable? Do your feet get toughened and therefore elimate the need for shoes? and why go barefoot?

 

because I can.

but I don't, wish i did,
but it's cold.
maybe someday.
and yeah, they get tougher,
plus you learn to watch where you walk better.

 

I don't go barefoot too much in public, I usually wear flip flops. When a good opportunity comes up, I do go bare.
At home, I am barefoot 100% of the time.

My reasoning for this, is simply, I love the way it looks, and feels. I am proud of my feet, and I hate restricting them into shoes.

 

Its just so natural. I've always hated shoes. I would cry when my mom would make me wear shoes when I was little. It just gets hard around here in the winter, so that sucks.

 

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When I was a baby, my mother would never put shoes on me. I cried, apparently. And she'd rather I be comfortable than normal looking.

When I was a little girl spending time with my grandmother, she never made me wear shoes. she was a depression era child and didn't think shoes were necesary any other time than during school or in the winter.

There's an old wives' tale in my area saying sticking your feet in the first fallen snow of winter will keep you from getting a cold (it works too!). I barefooted in every snow, because I didn't care.

As far as why I do now, I have hot and sweaty feet. Always have. Keeping shoes on for a long time makes my feet rather uncomfortable, and I can't concentrate. Being as I'm in university, concentration is especially important to me. Also, when I take my shoes off at the end of the day, they are all stinky because I've had them confined all day. That makes me uncomfortable, as well as anyone around me.

When you barefoot, your feet toughen and thicken up. You can walk on glass and not pierce the skin. Your feet lose sensitivity to the conditions you subject them to. And it's not a question of wearing shoes being safer or more sanitary. Being barefoot doesn't make you blind to the conditions you are walking on. Quite the contrary. Not to mention, every foot related ailment is actually SHOE related. Ingrowing toe nails, athlete's foot, all of it.

So yea. That's why I barefoot. Not to mention, as a girl, I save quite a bit of money as I am not buying ridiculously difficult shoes to match every outfit.

Love, Peace, and Bare feet!

Holly

 

I've never really liked to wear shoes in the first place, too constricting! My feet just feel better bare, I'm more relaxed and it looks great with blue jeans. Besides, my feet sweat a lot, in fact I've ruined some shoes by all the perspiration causing the shoes to stink and end up throwing them out. Bare feet even looks sexy!

 

Well to answer all the questions you raise:

1. Isn't it uncomfortable?

No, quite the opposite. Do you think we'd do it if it was ? I'm not a masochist and I very much doubt any fellow barefooters on this board are either.

2. Do your feet get toughened and therefore elimate the need for shoes?

Basically, yes ! Walking barefoot everywhere means the feet toughen up naturally, and remarkably quickly, to compensate. Essentially, if you think about it, the foot is simply returning to it's natural state. We weren't born with shoes on were we ? Once your feet have toughened up a bit (which really doesn't take long) there really is no practical need to wear shoes at all. So, whenever possible, I dont.

3. Why go barefoot?

Because it feels so much better than wearing shoes. Simple as that for me. I love feeling the ground under my feet as I walk and the feeling of, well, yes I guess freedom is as good a word for it as any. Even things like flip flops annoy the hell out of me. I don't even wear a toe ring.

 

It can be a little uncomfortable occasionally -when it's cold sometimes it takes a while for circulation to kick in, and on occasion I've come down hard on a big rock. But yes, you can adapt to cold and soles toughen up a lot.

I really enjoy all the differences, it's so much more interesting than the soft but boooooring shoes! I sometimes compare it to wearing sunglasses all the time; would you go through life wearing sunglasses every day, all day, just to prevent the few times the sun would shine in your eyes? I guess some people might, but I sure wouldn't... it'd take all the color from life. It's either taking all the fun of all the different surfaces I encounter from life, or lug shoes/flops around all year round just in case anything uncomfortable comes up, or just deal with it all for sake of all the good parts...

And I personally also take pride in toughening my feet; I like pushing my limits and finding out that indeed, my body does adapt and next time the cold bothers me less, and the next big rock hurts less too... It's never a great discomfort (don't overdo it!) and yes it's wonderful to see what we are capable of, to find out feet aren't the weak things in need of constant protection that shoes have turned them into for most people. Just like most people who play sports don't avoid every tiny bit of muscle aches, most barefooters won't avoid every pebble in the road.

 

my parents would prefer no shoes in the house, i hated shoes growing up, so barefoot was the next best thing. sometimes i wear flip flops. but barefoot is better. just me.

 

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Exactly my feelings about going barefoot. I love the idea of having tough feet, and really take pride in being able to easily walk over the roughest surfaces without flinching. In fact, sometimes if I'm walking in an area that is generally smooth, but may have a few sharp rocks or gravel here and there, such as a parking lot, I will purposely walk through the rough gravel just to feel the sensations on my feet - and to help keep them tough.

 

I think that i'll start going barefoot more now. Most of your opinions make it out to be pretty good.

 

Right on! It's the same with me, although I don't think my soles really "thickened" so much... I've been puzzled for a long time about people saying that. My feet seem like they always did, but I can tolerate a lot more sensation via the ground than I could when I didn't go barefoot everywhere, and spend as much of my days and nights barefoot as possible. I think that the last time I put on full, closed shoes was in June 2004 when I was in NY for my cousin's wedding. Oop, no, it was in November for my uncle's funeral. But apart from that, I am always either barefoot, or in nothing more than flip-flops (I wear flip-flops to work, and often take them off in the office).

I think that of course, being barefoot is our natural state, and shod is unnatural. But humans get conditioned from infancy to wear shoes as though we really need them (and yes, in some climates or situations we need them or we'll suffer injury) -- even in situations were we clearly are capable of being barefoot. (I mean come on, people wearing slippers to walk around the house at bedtime?! I find that laughable!)

The truth is, we can handle far more barefoot than most people think we can (hence the question that started this thread).

For me, when I moved to Florida, I became aware of the existence of the then-Dirty Sole Society, and realized what I had not done on my own -- that there's no reason not to spend as much time barefoot and therefore more comfortable as possible. (It especially helps in the Florida heat.)

In the past, I had thought I was comfortable enough even sitting around the house wearing sneakers! Now, I look back and realize how common that is, but how unnecessary. I mean, I wasn't sitting around and thinking, "Gee, I'm not fully comfortable," just because I was wearing sneakers, so it's not like I look back on all that time as wasted, coulda-been-barefoot time... but now I see no reason to EVER have shoes on if they're not absolutely necessary.

-Jeffrey

 

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Exactly! When you pay attention to it, you see that they're always trying to come up with shoes that "feel like you're barefoot"! It's like, DUH, why go from barefoot to shod only to be trying to feel barefoot?!

Any shoe -- ANY shoe -- will feel less than 100% as comfortable as barefoot... some 20%, some 85%, maybe more, but they still are shoes, and as such cannot possibly be as comfortable to your feet as being bare is. Plus, there's all the awful stuff that goes along with shoes -- dank, humid, dark, warm environment just perfect for growing fungi and stuff.

Well, flip-flops are what I resort to when I am told I have to wear shoes somewhere (like work, for instance), and they're the least of all the evils. As far as toe rings, I do wear one, and it's a simple and very comfortable one (a complete ring, as opposed to the adjustable horseshoe-shaped kind) so I really don't notice or feel it except visually.

-Jeffrey

 

I'm glad to hear it.

You know, even if it doesn't thrill you or something, if you can get yourself used to it, it will just feel natural -- and then you can save on bothering to have a bunch of pairs of shoes! (You'll save money and hassle.)

Oh, let's not forget that you can pick stuff up with your feet and toes!

I do this all the time, especially when I am packing my parachute in the hangar and need my packing tool off the floor, or a towel (it's sometimes sweaty work), or a piece of cord. It's also easier to move random debris out of my way -- all without having to take my hands off the complicated stuff I'm doing with the parachute.

Plus, people get kind of awed when they see that I skydive barefoot. I field questions all the time about it when I'm at the dropzone.

-Jeffrey

 

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When I did my first few jumps in 1991, they had me wear boots that they provided! I guess they worried about liability (even though they're supposed to be protected via the waiver that you must sign before jumping), since you're never sure how the first bunch of landings are going to go when a student is landing solo.

Tandem skydives are a different story, because depending on the tandem instructor, the student may or may not even put their feet down on landing! My dropzone, Skydive Sebastian, has tandem instructors (or TMs, Tandem Masters) who tend to stand up the landing with the student (I say student, but many or most times, these are one-time thrill/tourist jumpers). But sometimes the TM has the student lift their knees, and they both come to a gentle, skidding halt on their butts! It's kinda funny to watch.

I have seen several women be barefoot tandem passengers. The DZ lets people have their choice, it seems. For $200+ or so, who are they to tell the customer what to wear?! LOL!

So where are you located, Shaggie? Wherever you are, don't be bashful if you are going to do a skydive and you want to be barefoot. First off, they probably won't freak if you simply show up barefoot and say, "Hey, I'm ready!" with a smile! They may do a double-take or not (I never did see if anyone reacted to the barefoot women I saw go for tandems) but I doubt they'll give you a hard time if you were to simply say, "Well, this is how I want to do it -- I prefer to be barefoot." If it comes down to losing your money or not, they'll let you, I'm almost sure of it. What do they care if it's hard on your feet (which it's most certainly NOT) -- they have your money and your signature on a waiver that says you promise you won't sue them, and that if you do and you recover damages, you have to pay them whatever you recover from them! LOL!

If you're in doubt, just come on down to Sebastian. PM me if you want info about making arrangements.

-Jeffrey

 

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