A bigger danger than things lying around on the ground is stubbing a big toe and spraining it in the process... yep, that can happen to well-trained barefooters, too... but not to worry, there's no pain, and the swelling and slight reddening are both decreasing quite well...

I guess, people will more likely gape at the Pandoran-blue bling bling toe nails (yep, I tried out some new colors, replacing the gold with some Na'vi-esque blue with matching glitter... :D

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...17932463_n.jpg

Bus stop barefeet, yesterday morning, before work...

And now, it's just one office day parting me from a nine-day leave - meaning a time of barefoot freedom ahead...

Wiggling bare toes,

~*Txim Asawl*~

When I was an infant, my parents went to the store to get me some shoes and I put up such a fuss about it that the manager of the store came to check on me and my dad walked out of the store. That was an unexpected and unpleasant suprise for my parents. I still hate the feel of shoes and socks and try to go barefoot as often as I can. There are plenty of dangers when it comes to walking around barefoot, but there are also a ton of risks you take in pretty much every activity you participate in. People have to be more cautious when without any protection on their feet. I like to take those risks, though, and if I get injured by something, oh well. :xD:

Oh, it's not as dangerous as most people think... I guess that notion comes from people not looking where they walk. "Civilized" people, mostly wearing shoes rely on the protection of that footwear, thereby not paying too much attention to the path ahead.

That's also the reason of shoe-wearers accidentally stepping in dog poo, when such a pile is in plain sight. :xD:

I look ahead several meters, and when I see something unpleasant in my way, I take evasive action, and just don't step in it. So, indeed, barefoot walking is one way of helping us in learning to See (with a capital S, in the Na'vi sense), since I also ttry my best not step on living animals in my path...

On the morning, when I took the picture in the above posting, I looked ahead as usual, and succeeded in avoiding a lethal accident for a snail crossing the sidewalk:

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...99673955_n.jpg

Or I'm spotting things by the wayside, like Mother Nature's armed grassroots rebels, conquering the concrete: thistles pushing up at the curb...

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...88414812_n.jpg

Actually, with thistles, there are two reasons to avoid them... to keep them alive and fighting the power :D and to avoid pain to bare soles, too.

Shoes are tools, and should be treated as such... You're not walking around with a hammer all the time, or do you? Feet are designed by Mama Nature to be bare, when walking.

Wiggling bare toes,

~*Txim Asawl*~

As I think about it, you are right about it helping us See (and avoiding dog poo :xD:). I never thought about it that way. Mother Nature intended for us to use our feet without any sort of "protection". You have officially inspired me to go out on a walk, barefoot of course. I can't do that, though, because it's raining up a storm outside and it's my brother's birthday. I can wait until tomorrow to go on that walk. People will look at me in a strange way because I'll be without shoes and my toe nails were painted blood red last night out of boredom for the first time in years. The paint job is horrible, lol. I could care less about their opinions, however. :D

I hope you'll enjoy that barefoot walk... and about people staring, well, I got stares at my bare feet, when they were just bare, without any extra adournments, like foot jewelry (anklet, toe rings) or nail polish... over time I have grown to present my bare feet as a canvas for colors, body parts to adourn and most recently also wear some skin art, befitting my flower child personality.

I see it as kind of optical amplifiers - if people are going to stare, I want to give them something to look at.
:D

Plus, I also enjoy standing out from the crowd and celebrate my being different. According to German Fluxus artist Joseph Beuys, everyone is an artist. I guess that kind of rubbed off on me, since I had two of Beuys' students as arts teachers in high school... so, I am not only artist but also my own piece of artwork. Walking barefoot can be a performance, too.

I guess, your brightly red toe nails can be defined the same way... they're part of the artwork you'll be doing.

Wiggling bare toes,

~*Txim Asawl*~

As much as I agree with everything else in this thread, I'd rather you didn't say this sort of thing. It's wrong, but also disrespectful to at least one fairly awesome guy.

It is not wrong, or disrespectful. Things occasionally go wrong with babies (or humans of any age)

I wonder, why you didn't reply in kind to my posts of the same sort earlier? I have repeatedly written, that I think and feel our feet are naturally designed to be bare, be it by the result of an evolutionary process or a bright spark of divine inspiration. And I have made numerous referrals to Mother Nature having designed my feet to be happily bare rather than confined in shoes, where they can't move in the natural and healthy way.

True enough, there are people in the world who, like Pistorius, have lost limbs in early childhood or were born without them and have made efforts to cope with that. People born without limbs, having to master their lives, have found impressive ways to do so. Considering Oscar Pistorius, he has indeed found an impressive way to use high-tech prosthetics to achieve world records in running. His sporting motto, which can also be read in the article you've linked, reads "You're not disabled by the disabilities you have, you are able by the abilities you have." My ability of walking barefoot everywhere and being in touch with the Earth and all her textures is a source of happiness for me and partly defines my personality. I never felt celebrating that being disrespectful to other people, especially those without legs. In case, I would lose a foot, a leg, or both by ways of an accident, I would have to learn to cope with that, too... but I would never feel it disrespectful to hear or read a barefooter's opinion of bare feet being the naturally intended way to walk.

On the topic of bare feet, there are numerous reports about people born without arms, and having to learn using their feet as grasping instruments. All these efforts, the results and the people dealing with their lives this way are very worthy of our respect, no doubt about that. But, IMO, that would be a topic for a separate thread, such as "Great achievements by will power", or the like.

One example: Pilot girls without arms - Snotr

The video features Jessica Cox, who has a pilot license, flying her Ercoupe with her feet. Her lucky pilot t-shirt reads: "Look Ma, no hands!". Aside from that, she has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and plays the piano with her feet, too. She uses her feet in ways, we "normal" people never could imagine, proving the fact, that our feet evolved from the second pair of hands primates had to tools for walking on two legs.

More about Jessica can be read here:
Jessica Cox – An armless Girl gets a Pilot License | SpeakBindas

I especially like the proverb "Will will find a way" in the beginning of that article...

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kv...xeo6o1_500.jpg

So, all people facing the challenge of coping with their lives in a special way deserve our respect, for sure.

Wiggling bare toes,

~*Txim Asawl*~

If I were born without arms and had to use my feet like that, I'd wish for longer toes tbh :P

Well, to use feet for grasping and using them as alternate hands, I would love to have Na'vi feet, with that opposable big toe, made for grasping and holding on to things, like e.g. tree limbs and branches. Even though the Na'vi feet look strange to us, they're perfectly adapted to living in a natural environment, where grasping at things (especially while climbing and tree-hopping) is important. We all know the sketches from the concept art, where Na'vi feet are featured (feet-ured? ;) ), grasping at tree limbs, using that opposable big toe...

http://www.tree-of-souls.com/members...ee-sitting.jpg

I have uploaded this and two others from the concept art collection to my album.

Wiggling bare toes,

~*Txim Asawl*~

Walking barefoot as a natural happy pill?
 

Yes, indeed... actually, it's our body's own happy pill (serotonin) being released, by the impulse triggered when coming in contact with natural soil... there is a biological trigger found in soil, making that possible:

Mycobacterium vaccae - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Interesting, that this little organism can help cure so many ailments and strengthen the immune system, too. So, "dirt" (as natural soil is often referred to) isn't always bad or gross... Considering the highest-powered source of that bacterium, I wouldn't recommend searching cow dung to walk barefoot in...
:xD:

Although, on a cold morning, walking through dew-wet grass, a fresh and steaming pile, to warm up the feet... Cleaning them would be automatic, after a few more steps through the grass...

(just kidding ;) )

Wiggling bare and happy toes,

~*Txim Asawl*~

My current barefoot configuration for this weekend:

http://www.tree-of-souls.com/members..._toe_nails.jpg

This is what my bare feet are looking like at the moment. And this is also the barefoot configuration I'm using, when embarking to a little trip to my old home town today. Since there is a little international festival on the marketplace today, with performances by German, Turkish and other groups, I guess that a colorfully dressed barefoot person won't stand out too much (maybe the audience might just mistake me for one of the performers...).

Furthermore, there are professional barefooters to be met there, too, since my dear friend, who runs an oriental dance studio and is a professional oriental dancer herself, too, is among the performers as well. So, a nice outdoor party, a dear friend to be met and visiting my old home... a nice package and good occasion for a barefoot Sunday trip.

Wiggling bare toes,

~*Txim Asawl*~

A few glimpses at what I did on Sunday...

Setting foot on the place where I grew up (and leaving something hippie behind... rose petals):

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...11816932_n.jpg

Actually, there are worse-looking places to spend a childhood and youth days... and this lawn felt nice beneath bare soles in my childhood days, too...

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...47183797_n.jpg

Wanna see what the entrance to my old elementary school looks like? Here goes:

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...53435878_n.jpg

As I wrote, I also visited a little culture festival, held by the Turkish culture initiative at my home place, and met a dear friend (actually, we were more to each other than just friends, back in the past... but we managed to stay friends), who is a professional barefooter - but also prefers walking barefoot in her free time as often as possible:

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...17629987_n.jpg

Looks like she's doing a prayer to the sun, there... oh, and for sure, the camera just loves her:

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...22721609_n.jpg

The whole picture album can be viewed here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...2080035&type=1

Wiggling bare toes,

~*Txim Asawl*~

Playing barefoot hide-and-seek in high-grown grass...

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...26099490_n.jpg

Even though my barefooting is mostly done before and after work on weekdays, a day in the office can't be bad, if it starts with a view like this:

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...16441216_n.jpg

Wiggling bare toes, happy about having nice summer weather at the moment,

~*Txim Asawl*~

Motivational barefooting message, inspired by a web chat conversation:

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...23596775_n.jpg

:D

Wiggling bare toes,

~*Txim Asawl*~