Better now at being comfortable

In response to yesterday's post on shoes, a friend writes:

A person's choice of shoes reveals a lot more about a person than one might imagine.  Or perhaps we all know ( and the shoe industry counts on) that fact.

It strikes me as super odd that women are still wearing tall and clearly uncomfortable heels. And spending enough to buy a good bike.  What attractive message are those high straps sending?  "See how tall I am"?  or "See how stoically I take pain"?

One day about 20 years ago I was in Madison at a high powered meeting--in heels, of course. We had time to walk downtown for lunch and I found that it was too painful to walk very far. That very day, I skipped lunch and went to a shoe store where I bought 6 pairs of flat shoes.  And I have been heel-free ever since. My feet still wear the scars from bad shoes in my early, less emotionally secure days, but today my good shoes do not rub it in.

After having a veritable army of shoe choices, I am down to one type of shoe for winter and one for summer.  In the winter I wear Haflinger wool slip on shoes and in the summer I wear movable huarache sandles.  Of course, I allow a little variety with tennis shoes and in my area one needs a serviceable pair of polka dotted boots.

So, yes, just look down and you will learn a lot about a person.  For me, as I have become more comfortable with myself, I have become more comfortable in my shoes.A person's choice of shoes reveals a lot more about a person than one might imagine.  Or perhaps we all know ( and the shoe industry counts on) that fact.

It strikes me as super odd that women are still wearing tall and clearly uncomfortable heels. And spending enough to buy a good bike.  What attractive message are those high straps sending?  "See how tall I am"?  or "See how stoically I take pain"?

One day about 20 years ago I was in Madison at a high powered meeting--in heels, of course. We had time to walk downtown for lunch and I found that it was too painful to walk very far. That very day, I skipped lunch and went to a shoe store where I bought 6 pairs of flat shoes.  And I have been heel-free ever since. My feet still wear the scars from bad shoes in my early, less emotionally secure days, but today my good shoes do not rub it in.

After having a veritable army of shoe choices, I am down to one type of shoe for winter and one for summer.  In the winter I wear Haflinger wool slip on shoes and in the summer I wear movable huarache sandles.  Of course, I allow a little variety with tennis shoes and in my area one needs a serviceable pair of polka dotted boots.

So, yes, just look down and you will learn a lot about a person.  For me, as I have become more comfortable with myself, I have become more comfortable in my shoes.